Promoting Effective and Inclusive ICT Policy in Africa

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CIPESA-Internet-Governance
16Apr

Internet Governance

CIPESA-Internet-Governance

Much of the work we do at CIPESA is geared towards informing inclusive and effective policies related to digital access, use and perception. We endeavour to do work that shapes the policies, standards and  practices that govern cyberspace in Africa. Since inception,  internet governance concerns have been integrated in our research, advocacy, and activities including their impact on access, affordability, development, safety and security, as well as the multi-stakeholder approach towards the management of the internet.

In its early days, CIPESA was critical in informing, mobilising and facilitating participation of civil society groups and the media, as well as lobbying policy makers and regulators, during the processes of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

What we do to Promote Informed Internet Governance Structures
  • We monitor and report on policy shifts
  • Host multi-stakeholder convening and dialogues on policy at national and regional levels
  • We develop content aimed at increasing awareness and providing guidance in shaping intelligent governance in Africa and beyond
  • We summate these activities at our annual Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa
  • We also carry the insights from these activities to national, regional and global fora
CIPESA-ICT4Democracy
16Apr

Civic Participation

Globally, the role that ICT is playing in more spheres of life has led to increased awareness on a diversity of issues including the role of citizens in democratic processes. However, for millions of citizens in developing countries, the extent of interaction with ICT remains rudimentary yet immensely powerful.

Our work in this area includes the investigataion of how technology plays both enabling and disabling roles for citizens to engage with their governements, partake in civic processes, demand accountability and transparency, and also realisae their rights of Access to Information and Freedoom of Expression among others.

Data-Governance-Open-Data-and-the-Right-to-information
16Jan

Data Governance

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) could be a key enabler of open government in Africa. And opening up data in the hands of government agencies, donors, and even the private sector, is crucial too. Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone, normally subject only to the requirement to attribute and share-alike (Open Data Handbook). It is widely held that open data can increase transparency in the conduct of public affairs, undercuts corruption, enable citizens to reuse this information to deliver improved products and services; and lead to improvements in the delivery of education, health and water to citizens.

An increasingly large number of people in Africa are accessing modern communication technologies such as the internet and mobile phones. At the citizen-to-citizen level, a lot of conversations and actions are taking place via ICT. Many of these ICT-enabled interactions and discussions are empowering citizens, enhancing civic agency and promoting participation in various ways which democratic governments need to nurture.

Accordingly, CIPESA supports the mission of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that aims “to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”. Particularly, we work to support the role ICT can play in enabling the attainment of the key objectives of open government, conducting assessments, tracking progress on openness, and sharing and networking with actors world over who are working to promote open governance.

At the national (Uganda) level, we are currently collaborating with Development Research Training (DRT) and the Nairobi-based Development Initiatives (DI) to champion the Uganda Open Development Programme. The initiative is aimed at sharing development information and data ‐ on agriculture, education, health, roads sub‐sector, among others ‐ and on financial flows, including all resource flows to Uganda (aid, domestic revenues, humanitarian assistance, remittances, etc), making it possible to share development information, making it accessible and useable by various stakeholders – citizens, government officials, donors, civil society, media and private sector, among others. This initiative draws membership from various stakeholders including government representatives such as the National Information Technology Authority, Uganda, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the Ministry of Agriculture, private sector operators (Mountbatten, Hive Colab), civil society (DRT, DI, Uganda National Non Governmental Organisations Forum and Uganda Women’s Network).

At another level, we have created partnerships with civil society organisations in Asia (led by IdeaCorp and Foundation for Media Alternatives) with whom we are working on finalising a range of plans for research on open data, ICT and citizen participation, as well as open governance, including further development and validation of an Open e-Governance Index

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