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Report on the 1^st international conference on ICTs for development, education and training, UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 24-26 May 2006
Roberta T. Muropa
June 14, 2006

The 1^st International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the 24^th-26^th of May 2006, at the United Nations Conference Center where about 600 participants across Africa and the world took part in this remarkable event. The conference was mainly centered on marketing e-learning in Africa, and share experiences with other delegates on how e-learning has benefited many people in the field of education. The conference was organized under the auspices of the International Conference, Workshop and Exhibitions (ICWE) based in Berlin, Germany, where they have been instrumental in organizing the e-learning workshops in Berlin for the past few years

The conference was characterized with a number of pre-conference workshops, exhibitions,seminars, parallel and plenary sessions, where the Minister of Capacity Building in Ethiopia, The UN Economic Commission for Africa and the European Commission delegate as well as the Kenyan Minister of Education and Microsoft Africa Chairperson were part of the highly respected delegates who opened the conference.

One of the parallel sessions I attended looked at blogging and creating a personal website. The facilitators from the University of Cape Town noted that blogging was becoming popular with most internet users, as a space for communicating with family members and friends, where life experiences can also be shared on the website created by different individuals. Blogging can also be sued for research purposes that other people can use for reference purposes. Blogging has a reputation for being self- indugent, selfish and time consuming, and it is a website that one can control.

The funding partners who support e-learning program include DED, InWent, GTZ and CIM of which all are mainly German Development agencies, and most of them have different skills and are committed to the Millennium Development Goals. They promote the access of information to every person as a crucial tool in promoting economic growth and enhancing development in the Global South. The EU (European Commission) is also instrumental in fostering partnership with African governments and the civil society through financial, infrastructural and capacity building support so as to ensure that the marginalized communities have access to quality education through e-learning and learn to appreciate the importance of information technology in their lives. Hence, government representatives and civil society organizations were encouraged to send in their proposals as soon as possible to support information technology programs that are linked to the following thematic areas. The programs would be supported from 2007-2013.

• Health
• Food agriculture and bio technology
• Information and communication technologies
• Nano-materials production
• Energy
• Environment
• Socio-economic issues

In Africa, countries were encouraged to liaise with their office in South Africa, which would facilitate the processing of proposals from various stakeholders.

In Namibia, an e-learning center has been established, through partnership with In Went under the Namibian Open Learning Network Trust, which is an open and distance learning center. The Network offers course in Content Development, Instructional Design, and E-learning Management and Virtual Learning communities. The challenges that have been faced by the network include lack of adequate resources, convincing other stakeholders on the importance of incorporating e learning into their main programs.The civil service departments of various nations, including the Ethiopian Civil Service College, where training courses are offered online , have also adopted the e-learning course.

The main challenges related in implementing e-learning in a community were pointed out in the following manner.

• Lack of adequate resources,
• Convincing other stakeholders on the importance of incorporating e learning into their main programs.
• Lack of refurbished computers at affordable prices
• Lack of capacity in information technology maintenance
• Lack of women participation and other marginalized groups in e-learning
• Lack of integration between the Ministry of Higher Education and Information Technology

Recommendations made

The participants noted that for e-learning to be a success and fully benefit, the following aspects had to be taken into consideration.

• The information technology and other related infrastructure should be made ready and accessible for the users
• There should be sensitisation to various stakeholders on the importance of using e-learning.
• There should be also an implementation strategy by the e –learning providers and the use of mass media in making the concept being acceptable should also be encouraged.
• The e-learning providers should be able to translate the English language into vernacular language so that local communities can benefit from the services provided.
• More training should be taken into account for new users and those who have gained experience.
• For e-learning to be a success there should be multiple partnership from all stakeholders, even at policy level, and this include the participation of the private sector, the government and the civil society.
• Networking and sharing of ideas across borders will also be important in ensuring that e-learning becomes relevant to people’s needs and promote development.

For more details on the outcomes of the workshop, please check with the following websites: www.elearning-africa.com, www.icwe.net.

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