Dear Colleagues, I wish to introduce myself, apologies for coming late into the discussions. I'm Edith Adera, a Senior Program Specialist with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) based at our regional office in Nairobi which covers Eastern and Southern Africa.
IDRC has been instrumental in supporting ICT programs since the early 1970s starting with the PADIS program (Pan-African Documentation and Information System). In the recent past, we have supported various initiatives on ICTs and local governance. Some of the notable ones that might be of interest include: a) Research study on the effects of ICTs on local Governance which includes 4-5 case studies (Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania). It also includes an Africa-wide overview of the status of ICTs and Local Governance in Africa. It's co-funded with UNECA under the Partnership for ICTs in Africa (PICTA). The overview and 3 case studies have been concluded with the overall study report expected in August/September '05 and will be widely circulated (results of the study will also be presented at WSIS). b) This year, IDRC will support the establishment of a regional network of African researchers (named LOG-IN Africa) who will undertake deeper, more rigorous assessment of ICTs and local governance in Africa over time. The network will initially span 8 countries in 4 sub-regions of Africa. c) In June 2004, IDRC and UNECA, in collaboration with UNCDF, convened an "International Workshop on Innovative Applications of ICTs in Local Governance in Developing Countries", in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop recommended the establishment of a research network (mentioned above) and action-research of applications of ICTs and local governance which are currently being developed for Senegal and Bangladesh in partnership with UNCDF and Alcatel. Proceedings of this workshop including the papers presented can be found at: <http://www.idrc.ca/es/ev-58388-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html> I am pleased to join the GKD List and look forward to the discussions. Kind regards, Edith Adera ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
