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Dienstag, 24.12.2024
Transforming Government since 2001

ICT4D

  • SA: Mobily chairman: Broadband is horizon of growth

    Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Saghyir, chairman of the board of directors of Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), rates the Saudi telecommunication and IT sector as the most competitive and most developed sector for many years to come. Al-Saghyir, who has been chairman of the board of directors for Mobily since 2004, believes that contribution of the telecommunications sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Saudi Arabia places the industry in a leading position and will spur growth for several years to come. Al-Saghyir stresses that mobile broadband will witness strong competition and praises the role of the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in the evolving situation

  • Sachsens ländlicher Raum: Lediglich die Hälfte der Anwohner bekommt schnelles Internet

    Umfrage zeigt Versorgungsdesaster

    Lediglich die Hälfte aller im ländlichen Raum wohnenden Sachsen kann derzeit einen schnellen Internet-Zugang nutzen. Dies ergab eine Umfrage der Sächsischen Anstalt für kommunale Datenverarbeitung im Auftrag des Sächsischen Städte- und Gemeindetages in den vergangenen drei Wochen. Danach sind 48 Prozent der Kommunen im ländlichen Raum nicht vollständig mit schnellen Internet-Zugängen erschlossen. Besonders betroffen sind Dörfer mit weniger als 2.000 Einwohnern. Über 100 kommunale Initiativen von Bürgern und Unternehmern bemühen sich derzeit um einen breitbandigen Internet-Anschluss.

  • SADC countries increase ICT budgets by 29%

    All countries in the SADC region with the exception of one, have increased the ICT budgets by 29% to reflect their growing commitment to e-government.

    According to a SADC ICT report released by ForgeAhead, the political will to develop strong ICT communities has manifested itself in the recent increases in the budget allocations.

    “On average, there has been a 29% increase in ICT budgets between 2006/07 to 2007/08. In fact, all the countries in the SADC region, to the exception of this year’s host country (Mauritius), have increased their ICT budget to reflect their growing commitment to e-government. The majority of funds originate from donors such as the World Bank,” the report said.

  • SADC Countries: ‘Legislate ICT to fuel growth’

    Members and staff of Parliaments from twelve (12) SADC Countries Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and members of the provincial legislators of South Africa, met in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 13th to 15th of February 2007 to discuss strategies of involving Parliaments in building an inclusive information society in the region and making Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) work in Parliaments.

  • SAMENA Council highlights need to accelerate digitization

    On the opening day of the SAMENA Council's Beyond Connectivity 2013 conference, Mohamed Isa Al Khalifa, Group CEO of Batelco and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SAMENA Council, welcomed industry professionals and decision-makers to the annual conference, and emphasized on the need to define new digital agendas and create an enabling environment within the SAMENA region whereby the adoption of digital services, integrated ICT applications, and digital tools can be accelerated.

    In his opening address, Mr. Khalifa said, "It is critical for us to collectively work toward ensuring that our future ICT policies are created and harmonized on the pillars of knowledge, collaboration, commonality in developmental goals, and the passion to achieve human success. We need to develop and sustain processes for accelerating digitization in our economies, to guarantee social and economic progress throughout South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa."

  • Satellite broadband access, crucial to empowering a new India

    According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), only around 121 million of 1.2 billion Indians are logged onto the Internet and, of these, only 2 per cent, or approximately 2.2 million rural Indians, have access to the Web.

    Pakistan, in comparison, hovers around 31 million users (but as Pakistan's population is 187 million, the percentage is better than India's).

    China, on the other hand, has 457 million broadband users (according to Chinese government-released data), which is more than the US, Mexico and Canada combined. While media reports wax eloquently about mobile broadband, the fact of the matter is that both 2G and 3G networks have been largely urban and semi-urban phenomenon as that is where the ARPUs are (and will remain for the foreseeable future if industry reports are any indication).

  • Satellites improving lives in rural Africa

    An ESA-supported project is showing how satcoms can help farmers, voters and educators in rural Africa.

    The three elements of the Sway4edu project are helping to run elections, educate teachers and improve radio programming.

    Satellite terminals provide Internet connectivity, with solar panels and batteries (where needed), laptops, tablets, a projector with screen, and loudspeakers.

  • Saudi Arabia: ‘Knowledge-based society for greater good of people’

    Under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, a knowledge-based society is being established in the Kingdom for the greater good of its people, said Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah at the inauguration of the Advanced Technologies Forum (ATF) 2009 at King Faisal Hall here yesterday.

    “Current development projects in e-government, and vocational and technical training, and the establishment of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology bear ample testimony to the king’s commitment to creating a knowledge and industry-based society in the Kingdom,” he added.

  • Saudi Arabia: Integrated Visions in Al Medinah – the Kingdom’s original Smart City

    While Al Medinah Al Munawwara may not be the economic or the political centre of the Kingdom, the city has become famous for the vision of its regional government. Initiated by then governor of Al Medinah His Royal Highness Prince Muqrin Bin Adbul Aziz Al Saud, the drive to transform Al Medinah into a smart city. Underpinning this drive towards the digital economy is one company, or, more correctly, one group of companies. Prior to February’s Smart Cities Forum 2007 in Riyadh, CIO Arabia met with Integrated Visions’ (IV) founder and visionary Alawi Baharoon to discuss where the project is headed, how IV has overcome initial stumbling blocks, gained the buy-in of Medinah’s citizens, government, and businesses, as well as where IV itself is headed over the coming years as Baharoon looks to bring the expertise developed in Medinah to bear as IV looks to play a central role in transforming the Kingdom into a digital economy.

  • Saudi Arabia: Toward a Knowledge-Based Society

    King Abdullah’s cherished vision of development is now being translated into a concrete reality with him laying the foundation stone of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on the Red Sea coast near Rabigh. It has been the king’s dream to invest the Kingdom’s resources into developing its manpower. It is imperative — not just to achieve a commendable position for our society in the world but for our survival — to build a society, based on knowledge economy, that would be able to compete on an international level.

  • SB: New website for National ICT Policy Project here

    A new website has been launched for the National ICT Policy Project: www.ICTSolomons.info.

    The National ICT Policy Project began last year within the Ministry of Communications, Aviation & Information Technology (‘MCAIT’), with support from the World Bank and technical assistance by Dr Andrew Simpson.

    “We are consulting widely,” says Dr Simpson, “with the aim of obtaining views and comments from the broadest possible range of people, groups and businesses in Solomon Islands.”

  • Schlechte Web-Infrastruktur kostet Afrika Milliarden

    Fehlende Glasfaserleitungen treiben Preise hoch

    Nur vier Prozent der afrikanischen Bevölkerung hat Zugang zum Internet, die Mehrheit davon lebt in Nordafrika oder in der Republik Südafrika. Schuld daran ist zum Teil die fehlende Infrastruktur, die den Preis für Hochgeschwindigkeits-Internet über Kabel in die Höhe treibt, berichtet die New York Times. 75 Prozent des afrikanischen Internet-Traffics wird über Großbritannien oder die USA geroutet. Dieser Umweg kostet afrikanische Staaten jährlich Milliarden an US-Dollar, die nicht anfallen würden, gäbe es eine adäquate Infrastruktur. E-Mails, die aus Afrika über Kabel gesendet werden, laufen alle durch ein und dieselbe Glasfaserkabelleitung, die vor der afrikanischen Westküste verläuft.

  • Schnelles Internet für Ostafrika

    Jetzt wirds konkret: Drei Unterseekabel-Projekte sollen Ostafrika bald dringend benötigte Bandbreiten für internationalen Datenverkehr bringen. Auch Telefongespräche und TV-Übertragungen sollen über die Kabel laufen. Bisher werden meist Satelliten-Verbindungen genutzt, die aber teuer sind und an ihre Kapazitätsgrenzen stoßen. EASSy (East Africa Submarine Cable System) soll das fehlende Glied im Glasfaserring um Afrika darstellen. Es wird die gesamte Küste Ostafrikas entlanglaufen und Landestellen in mehreren Ländern haben. Zum großen Teil parallel verlaufen soll Seacom, das zwar weniger Landestellen, dafür aber Anbindungen zu Europa und Indien vorsieht.

  • Science Development Fund under President of Azerbaijan to finance ICT projects

    The Science Development Fund under the President of Azerbaijan has allocated one million manats for financing competitive projects in the sphere of information and communication technologies (ICT), the Fund's Executive Director Elchin Babayev said on Thursday at a conference in Baku.

    According to Babayev, the competition is being held jointly with Azerbaijan's Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies. This is included in the plan of events approved in 2013 in connection with declaring this year as an ICT one.

  • SES urges Africa to embrace satellite technology

    SES has called on Africa to begin satellite-powered e-school pilot projects to improve teacher competency on the continent.

    The recommendation follows a round-table discussion, attended by high-level politicians and leaders from Africa and Europe, during the fifth EU-Africa Business Forum, which took place in Brussels last week.

    Christine Leurquin, VP, institutional relations, SES, chaired the panel, "Creating partnerships to bring e-schools to rural Africa: Offering incubator-backed seed and early-stage funding", which discussed how a lack of connectivity in Africa remains a key bottleneck to development.

  • SG: $500 million plan to help SMEs catch up on high-tech

    The Government is mounting a major three-pronged push to ensure smaller businesses get up to speed with information and communications technology (ICT).

    Larger companies and the public sector here are already making the most of technology that is transforming almost every industry across the globe,

    Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his Budget speech.

  • Shanfari opens eOman Awareness Centre

    Sheikh Salim bin Aufait Al Shanfari, chairman of Dhofar Municipality and head of the Khareef Salalah Organising Committee, has inaugurated the eOman Awareness Centre of the Information Technology Authority (ITA) at the Municipality Recreation Centre, recently.

    Sheikh Salim bin Aufait Al Shanfari toured the ITA exhibition and attended the eOman awareness session which was held as part of the ITA’s initiatives to create awareness about ‘Digital Oman’.

  • Sierra Leone plans telecenters to develop rural areas

    Sierra Leone is promoting multipurpose community telecenters (MCTs) for rural and undeserved areas to help kick-start development.

    "This project that is about to be launched fulfills one of the requirements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), since information and communications technology (ICT) has been recognized as an engine for growth," said Vice President Sam Sumana at a recent Freetown workshop organized to publicize the project.

  • Singapore e-gov services still not global

    While the country leads in e-government implementation, few locally developed e-government applications or services are adopted in the global market. This is an issue ICT regulator, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), hopes to fix.

    During a media Q&A held here today, James Kang, assistant chief executive of government chief information office at IDA, said Singapore had a low number of products and services in the global e-government landscape, noting that this was "ironic" as the city-state was placed in leading positions in several global indexes on e-government.

  • Singapore education minister calls teachers to use ICT with gutsiness

    Singapore’s Minister of Education Heng Swee Keat (pictured) encouraged teachers to use technology in meaningful ways that will improve student engagement and learning.

    “By 2016, we will have an integrated online learning portal for all our primary and secondary school students. This is a most invigorating prospects, but I want to say, it is not just about using technology more. Ultimately it is about how we use technology to bring out the heart of education,” said Heng in a Facebook post this week.

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