Addis Ababa — The goal of ADF '99 is to develop and support African initiatives that are fundamental to shaping the African information age. It is the culmination of three years of activities to build an African information society and will take stock to set future directions for the African Information Society Initiative.

ADF '99 provides the first occasion for a broad range of African policy- makers to come together as a group to assess the opportunities, confront the challenges, and develop a plan of action for Africa in the information age. ADF '99 offers the private sector numerous opportunities throughout the four-day conference to formulate positions, showcase products and services, and realistically assess the possibilities for acting jointly with government and civil society.

Unique are the focus groups on gender, youth, the private sector and the African diaspora, providing an opportunity for these special interest groups to air their perspectives on the issues, react to the proposals, report to the plenary and shape their own recommendations.

Focus group coordinators:

* Gender-FEMNET and the APC Women's Programme

* Youth-Heba Ramzy, RITSEC, Egypt

* Private sector-Derrick Cogburn, Global Information Infrastructure Commission; University of Michigan, USA

* African diaspora-Prof. Raymond Akwule, George Mason University, USA African policy analysts and researchers will provide commentary and assess their own future programmes in terms of key aspects of the information age. Experienced panels will represent all sectors with a stake in the information society such as education, health, environment, finance, and industry. Exhibition space will showcase products, services, and applications with special relevance to the region. Poster sessions will allow a wide range of participants to engage smaller audiences around selected approaches to development issues.

Programme Sunday, 24 October Registration

* Formation of focus groups on gender, young people, the African diaspora, and the private sector to monitor proceedings, report to plenary, and formulate specific recommendations

* Formation of a core group of representatives from African think tanks who will draw from the discussions key issues for future policy analysis and research

1800-1930 Opening session Chair: K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA

* H. E. the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi

* Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary General, Organization of African Unity

* Omar Kabbaj, President, African Development Bank

* Leonard Robinson, President and Chief Executive Officer, The US National Summit on Africa

1930 Reception hosted by ECA

Monday, 25 October SETTING The SCENE: The ADF PROCESS AND The INFORMATION AGE IN AFRICA 0900 Keynote presentations Development opportunities of the information age in Africa Chair: K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA

* H.E. Thabo Mbeki, President, Republic of South Africa

* Louise Frechette, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

* Noah Samara, Chief Executive Officer, WorldSpace Corporation, USA 1030 Coffee break 1100 Progress towards the African information age Chair: Zephirin Diabre, Associate Administrator, United Nations Development Programme Presenter: Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director, Development Information Services Division, ECA Panel:

* H.E. Mohammed Dirir, Minister of Telecommunications, Ethiopia

* Ingo Fehrmann, Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Siemens AG

* Robert Valantin, Senior Adviser, International Development Research Centre, Canada

* M. Yaovi Hounkponou, Director, Benin Press Agency This presentation will set the scene for the rest of the work of the conference by-

* giving a briefing on the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)

* stressing the importance of national information and communication policy processes

* introducing the theme areas Panel response; open discussion

1300 Lunch ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ECA has commissioned position papers to serve as a starting point for discussion on the four themes that are key to progress towards an information society in Africa. Theme presentations are followed by focused comments from panel members and discussion from the floor.

Parallel sessions 1430 Theme 1: Globalization and the Information Economy: Challenges and Opportunities for Africa Chair: Mary Chinery-Hesse, Deputy Director General, International Labour Office Presenters:

* Catherine Nyaki Adeya, United Nations University Institute for New Technologies

* Derrick Cogburn, University of Michigan, School of Information; Global Information Infrastructure Commission, USA Panel:

* Alan Gelb, Chief Economist, Africa Region, World Bank

* Gertrude Akapelwa-Ehueni, Special Assistant to the Director, African Development Bank

* Mohamed Mahdi, Chief Executive Officer, Cyberknowledge Systems, South Africa

* Chris Slade, Vice President, Public and Industry Sector Development, Oracle

The presentation will-

* define the information economy

* identify the elements present in Africa

* describe the constraints facing Africa

* identify Africa's opportunities to exploit the global information economy to benefit its own development

1430 Theme 2: Information and Communication Technologies for Improved Governance Chair: Hisham El Sherif, Chairman, RITSEC; Chairman, IT Investments Holdings, Egypt Presenters:

* Bhavya Lal, Senior Policy Analyst, Abt Associates, USA

* Salomao Manhica, Adviser, Office of the Prime Minister, Mozambique Panel:

* Pascal Baba Couloubaly, Chief of the Cabinet, Office of the President, Mali

* David Pulkol, Deputy Director, UNICEF, Nairobi

* Najat Rochdi, Adviser to the Minister of Post and Information Technologies, Morocco

* Dominique Hounkonnou, Benin The presentation will-

* describe experiences of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in governance from a global perspective using African examples

* sketch future visions and scenarios for ICT in governance in Africa

* identify lessons learned and approaches to be explored in Africa * define the policy and technology requirements

1600 Break

Parallel sessions 1630 Theme 3: Strengthening Africa's Information Infrastructure Chair: Hamadoun I. Toure, Director Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union Presenter:

* Michael Jensen, Independent Consultant Panel:

* H.E. John Mahama, Minister of Communications, Ghana

* Khedija Hamouda Ghariani, Tunisian Internet Agency

* Koos Bekker, MD, Naspers, South Africa

* Gourde D. Adadja, Director General, Regional African Satellite Communication System The presentation will:

* highlight policies and strategies that have enabled some countries to move faster to extend infrastructure for broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet access

* provide a regional status report

* identify subregional issues and strategies 1630 Theme 4: Democratizing Access to the Information Society Chair: Shuller Habeenzu, Director, Zamnet, Zambia Presenter: Aida Opoku-Mensah, Ford Foundation, Lagos Panel:

* H.E. Arnaldo Valenti Nhavato, Minister of Education, Mozambique * Anriette Esterhuysen, Sangonet, South Africa

* Ernest Wilson, Director, Centre for International Development and Conflict Resolution, University of Maryland

* Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary, ECA The presentation will-

* provide an overview of how Africa is meeting ICT needs of different social sectors: women, youth, rural and urban poor

* present opportunities for expanding access through applications that meet social needs: food, health, education, access to income, and governance * bring out challenges for access, use, and content

* point out successes in extending access, in Africa and elsewhere

Dinner hosted by the Global Information Infrastructure Commission

Tuesday, 26 October

0900-1300 Breakout groups on issues and cases arising from the four theme presentations

1030 Break Parallel sessions There will be four breakout groups under each theme, 16 in all. Eight breakout groups will meet from 0900 to 1030 and eight from 1100 to 1230. Groups will reconvene by theme at 1245 to compare reports and consider how to prepare their plenary presentations. Theme and breakout group rapporteurs will be responsible for ensuring that theme presentations to plenary concisely reflect key breakout issues. Breakout group presentations should be short: not more than 30 minutes in total. The emphasis should be on discussion.

Theme 1: The Information Economy 0900 Indicators for the information economy and their relevance to Africa Presentation and moderated discussion on global collaborative initiatives and their application to measuring development impact in Africa Chair: Gillian Marcelle, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa Presenter: Heather Hudson, Acacia, International Development Research Centre, Canada Global, regional, subregional and national frameworks and approaches to stimulate the growth of the African information economy Presentations and moderated discussion on the global framework with examples of concrete national approaches Chair: Nancy Hafkin, ECA Presenters:

* E-commerce under GATS: African perspectives-Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Senegal

* Towards an electronic commerce policy for South Africa-Dillo Lehlokoe, Department of Communications, South Africa

* Egyptian e-commerce initiatives, IDSC, Egypt

* Towards an African information society: a challenge for regional economic organizations-Willie Jackson, Cameroon

* Fighting inequalitarian influences of globalization and IT: policy approaches in Botswana and Zimbabwe-Rubin Patterson, University of Maryland, USA 1100 Creating information industries in Africa: software development, open- source, infrastructure requirements, employment creation Presentation, panel and moderated discussion Chair: Rui Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Mozambique Telecom Presenter: Mavis Ampah Sintim-Misa, Chief Executive Officer, Spectrum International, Ghana Panel:

* Kebour Ghenna, Chief Executive Officer, Infotec, Ethiopia

* Marc Mortier, Vice President, Middle East and Africa, Siemens AG

* Assane Diallo, Regional Project Coordinator, INDAFTEL, BDT, ITU

* Jacques Rostenne, Perwit, Canada

* Andile Ngcaba, Director-General, Department of Communications, South Africa Knowledge, education and learning to strengthen the information economy Presentation, panel and moderated discussion Chair: Paulos Nyirenda, National Coordinator, National Research Council of Malawi Presenter: Clement Dzidonu, Chief Executive Officer, INIIT, Ghana Panel:

* Adei Danish, Managing Director, Standard Data, Egypt

* Ken Lohento, President, ORIDEV, Benin

* Mactar Seck, National Industrial Council, Senegal

* Prof Olalere Ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Theme 2: Governance 0900 Improving understanding between ICT experts and government managers Alternative approaches to resolving the gap in ICT knowledge and providing decision support; panel and moderated discussion Chair: Bhavya Lal, Abt Associates, USA Panel:

* Alpha Mohamed Kallo, Assistant to the Minister, Ministry of Economics and Finance, Guinea

* Norwood Langley, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Planning, Liberia

* Venancio Massingue, Vice Rector, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique

* Raafat Radwan, Chairman, IDSC, Egypt Facilitating citizen's participation in the governance process through the use of ICTs: national case studies Chair: Hans d 'Orville, Director, IT for Development UNDP Presentations:

* Urban information on the Internet, Dakar-Mamadou Gaye, Director, SIUP, Senegal

* National information policy process in Mozambique-Salomao Manhica, Prime Minister's Office, Mozambique

* Global vision for planning sectoral development, Morocco-Najat Rochdi, Morocco

* Parliamentary network on new technologies -Mamadou Diop, Network President, Senegal 1100 Lessons learned in ICT applications in governance Panel to discuss lessons learned on design and implementation of ICTs in the environment, agriculture, trade and public administration sectors Chair: Dominique Hounkonnou, Benin

Presentations:

* The Environmental Information and Management System on Internet (SISEI), Benin-Sylvain Adokpo-Migan, Chief, SISEI, Benin

* Trade Point, Senegal-Ibrahima Diagne, Director

* State Information Technology Agency, South Africa-Theo Nkone, Director

* Information support for agricultural research in Ghana, GAINS - Clement Entsua-Mensah, Director, INSTI, CSIR, Ghana The challenge and opportunities of ICTs in the health sector Health information and communication, new technologies for health education, medical informatics, telemedecine, impact on costs

* Chair: H.E. Ismail Awad-Allah Sallam, Minister of Health and Population, Egypt Presentations:

* Health information and communications: challenges and opportunities (Healthnet)-Leela McCullough, Information Director, SatelLife, USA

* Medical informatics for Africa-Hamish Fraser, New England Medical Centre, USA

* Effects of ICTs on maternal health in Uganda-Maria Musoke, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK

* Health Informatics Project: Cooperation between Nigeria and Finland-H. A. Soriyan

Theme 3: Infrastructure and Policy 0900 Policy and regulatory changes to accelerate the extension of infrastructure Workshop format for in-depth discussion of key elements in theme paper Co-chairs:

* Brahima Sanou, Senior Advisor, ITU, Ethiopia

* Kerry McNamara, World Bank Institute Investment and financing Workshop format for in-depth discussion of key elements in theme paper Chair: Muriuki Mureithi, Summit Strategies, Kenya

1100 Capacity building and human resource development to extend rollout and use of infrastructure Chair: Gerald Mpiysi, Director, Information Systems, Office of the Vice President, Rwanda Presenter: Nii Quaynor, Managing Director, Network Computer Systems, Ltd., Ghana Panel:

* Steve Mworia, Computer Corporation of Tanzania

* Robin Mansell, University of Sussex, UK

* Chris Slade, Vice President, Public and Industry Sector Development, Oracle

* Tina James, South Africa IT Industry Strategy Internet governance and new mechanisms for managing Africa's information infrastructure Chair: Tarik Kamel, Internet Society of Egypt Presenter: Pierre Dandjinou, United Nations Development Programme, Benin

Theme 4: Democratizing Access 0900 ICT support for primary and secondary education: school networking and distance learning tools Panel and moderated discussion: African cases of application of ICTs to education; exploration of conditions for successful partnerships Chair: Wawa Ngenge, Sustainable Development Network Programme Coordinator, Cameroon Panel:

* SchoolNet South Africa-Vis Naidoo, Department of Education, and Denis Brandjes, SchoolNet South Africa

* Private sector contributions-Jean-Yves Besnier, Nortel Networks, France

* SchoolNet Mozambique-Generosa Cossa

* WorLD Ghana-Samuel Eshun, Country Coordinator Extending access: programmes, projects, and models Chair: Aida Okpoku-Mensah, Ford Foundation, Lagos Panel:

* Toiles d'Elles-Marie-Helene Mottin-Sylla, SYNFEV, Senegal

* Integrated Regional Information Network-Ben Parker, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

* Case studies from gender and youth focus groups 1100 Integrating new and old technologies to facilitate local exchange of communication and information Chair: Venancio Massingue, University Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique Panel:

* Rural radio links in Mali-Jean-Pierre Ilboudo, Food and Agriculture Organization

* ANAIS Network, West Africa-Amadou Top, OSIRIS, Senegal

* Womensnet Community Radio-Sonja Boezak, Womensnet Information Coordinator, South Africa Community applications Panel presentations and discussion on different telecentre models Chair: Gaston Zongo, Director, Acacia, International Development Research Centre, Canada

Presenters:

* Rosslyn learning project (adult basic education)-Glen Jordan, South Africa

* The cooperative approach-Marlee Norton, National Telephone Cooperative Association, USA

* Telecentres: the Egyptian experience-Sherif Hashem, Cairo University, IDSC, Egypt 1245 Brief meeting of the four theme groups-in particular, chairs and rapporteurs, to plan preparation of plenary reports 1430-1600 Strategies for Policy Research and Action: A Role for African Think Tanks Convened by the World Bank Institute A panel of leading African policy research and analysis institutions will discuss how the emergence of ICTs has affected their role in the development process and explore key areas for future programme activity. Attention will focus on specific needs for policy analysis and advice and on the potential for partnerships with government, NGOs and the private sector. Chair: Joseph Abbey, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Analysis, Ghana Panel:

* Shola Taylor, African Telecommunications Policy Think Tank, United Kingdom

* Banji Oyeyinka, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Nigeria

* Sarif Kemal, Director, Regional Information Technology Institute, Egypt Introducing e-commerce to small business Workshop Facilitators:

* Jacques Rostenne, Perwit, Canada

* Andile Ngcaba, Director-General, Department of Communications, South Africa Poster sessions 1430 African content on the Internet

* An overview of African Internet sites

* UNESCO's Top 50

* Projects in support of content creation

* Indigenous knowledge

* Womensnet website

* African electronic mailing lists Applications * School networking * Tele- health

* Small business support

Internet Initiative for Africa, UNDP NICI presentations Youth presentations Exhibitions and demonstrations

1600 Break

1630-1800 ICTs and the media Panel of African media organizations will examine how media integration with ICTs can promote a more diverse and pluralist media environment and how conventional media can operate as a gateway to the Internet for people who do not have access. Chair: Peter da Costa, Senior Communication Adviser, ECA

Planning resources for the success of ICT investments Workshop Facilitator: ABT Associates, USA

Poster sessions Same as at 1430

Exhibitions and demonstrations

1815 Technology Centre for Africa: vision and mission - Sue Rhee, Coordinator, TCA, ECA The TCA contribution to supporting African countries to meet the challenges of the information age through exploitation of ICTs to accelerate economic and social development

Wednesday, 27 October INTERIM ASSESSMENT FROM PARTICIPANTS

Chair: Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary, ECA 0900 Feedback and reflection from the focus groups The gender and youth focus groups will report to plenary on their specific needs and on the challenges and opportunities they have identified in the previous sessions. The African diaspora focus group will provide a first assessment of how best to strengthen links across regions. The groups representing the private sector, and African think tanks will report on their initial assessment of opportunities for stimulating African progress towards the information age.

1100 Break

1130 Feedback from the theme breakout groups Breakout groups organized by the four thematic areas report to plenary on the key opportunities and constraints identified in the initial presentations, debates and group discussions.

EXPLORING The WAY FORWARD: NATIONAL AND SUBREGIONAL SCENARIOS

1430 National information and communication policies, plans and infrastructure: shaping the African information society Panel to assess progress in planning a national information and communication infrastructure (NICI) that will address national development needs: overview presentation by ECA; response by subregional organizations; open discussion with governments. Chair:

1600 Break

1630 Role of development agencies and the private sector in the NICI process Panel in which development agencies respond and outline their own perspectives and opportunities for technical and financial support To be convened by development agencies on basis of discussions during ADF '99 Private sector panel provides its assessment of the potential for joint action on the national plans and programmes To be convened by the private sector focus group Concluding summary from the chair to guide next day's information marketplace (NICI) plenary

Thursday, 28 October

0900 Information marketplace: Introductory Plenary Governments and partners will consider the results of the previous day's NICI debates and structure the marketplace session which will follow the plenary

1030 - 1300 Countries work in groups to explore opportunities for support in discussion with regional organizations, donors and the private sector Poster session ICT support for continued cooperation-organized by Bellanet

1100 Break

1130 Use and development of information and communication technologies to promote learning, teaching, and research in African universities Panel with short presentations and discussion on development of ICT and applications at the tertiary level to facilitate scientific research and networking, provide support to students and strengthen administration Chair: Professor Raymond Akwule, George Mason University, USA Panel:

* Stanley Moyo, University of Zimbabwe

* Prof. J.M. Mwenechanya, Mclink Consultancy, Zambia

* Venancio Massingue, Vice Rector, University Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique

* Prof. Olalere Ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

* Fulvio Postogna, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste

1130 An electronic commerce research agenda for Africa Panel of chambers of commerce, business, research organizations, and development agencies defines a research agenda relevant to the region. Convened by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Chair: Katherine Ichoya, Senior Programme Analyst, COMESA, Zambia DEFINING The WAY FORWARD

1530 Recommendations and conclusions: the way forward in Africa Chair: K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA Sharing of lessons learned and presentation of recommendations Panel: Rapporteurs of the theme and focus groups Towards the global Conference on the Information Society - Hamadoun Toure, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU Towards GKII: the Global Knowledge Partnership- Stephan Roman, British Council

1800 Closing session K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, ECA H.E. Alpha Oumar Konare, President, Republic of Mali Exhibition ADF '99 provides exhibition space to the private sector, governments and civil society to demonstrate products, services and applications that promote and extend the information society in Africa.

PARTNERS in ADF '99 African Connection Programme Bellanet International Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Carnegie Corporation of New York Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) Ford Foundation Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Government of the Netherlands Government of Switzerland International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa (PICTA) United Nations Development Programme United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United States Agency for International Development (USAID) World Bank Institute (WBI) WorldSpace Corporation

For further information please contact Peter da Costa, Cabinet Office of the Executive Secretary, UN ECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51-58-26 (direct) or 251-1-51-72-00 (main switchboard), Ext. 354866 Fax: +251-1-51-22-33 E-Mail: ecainfo@un.org