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AISI – NICI - RICI

Alain Nkoyock,

Addis Ababa, 1st October 2005

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ICT, ECA & AISI: Historical Steps• PADIS (Pan African Development Information System):

1979 -> Objective: Establishment of a centralized development information Db at ECA (AA) with national development information Dbs at national participating centres in Africa countries

• CABECA (Capacity Building for Electronic Communication in Africa: 1992 -> Objective: Establishment of electronic communication nodes in 24 African countries.

• AISI (African Information Society Initiative): 1996 -> Development of National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI) in Africa (among others).

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What is AISI?– An Action Framework to Build Africa's

Information and Communication Infrastructure – Aims at supporting and accelerating socio-

economic development imperatives of African countries

– Focuses on priority strategies, programmes and projects (information networks, regional databases, etc)

– Main e-strategies: NICI, RICI, SICI and VICI

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What is an NICI Plan?• An instrument to implement the global AISI visions

of developing the information infrastructure, human resources and content at national level;

• An African response to facilitate the digital inclusion of Africa and integration of the continent into the globalization process;

• An exercise aiming at developing national ICT policies, strategies and plans which serve as roadmap for the countries participation in the knowledge economy.

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Aims of a NICI Plan

• Improve the nations Information and communication infrastructure;

• Improve the nations ICT policies and regulatory frameworks;

• Improve the nations Human resources;• Improve the nations Infostructure.

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NICI Plan Components– The policy;– The Framework;– The implementation plan.

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NICI Process

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NICI Plans in Africa, 2005

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• Long-term Vision • - is absolutely Essential• Short-term prioritization • -(start small, scale fast)• Human resource development • - for all sectors of society• Private-sector funding model • -is not yet mature• Donors need to fund • -beyond “pilots”

Lessons learnt

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Lessons Learnt• Incoherence between NICI Plans - UNDAF &

PRSP• ICT- led Development Vision Vs. MDG• Projects identified in NEPAD STAP are those

identified by RECs• Implementation phase awaited• Many initiatives with mitigated results

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AISI: ECA’s Subsidiary Bodies• ATAC:• PICTA:• CODI:• African Stakeholders Network (ASN) of the UN ICT Task

Force:• African regional EPolNet Node:

– Launched in 2003 (CODI III);– Mission: channel demand from African institutions and

individuals, such as policy experts, programme managers and legislative drafters seeking e-strategy expertise;

• GKP: Network of networks– 2002: GKP annual meeting held in ECA– Mission: develop GKP strategy for 2005: global and

regional networks and partnership mechanisms in Africa

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What is RICI?• A facility for harmonizing national strategies at the sub-

regional levels by RECs for consistency in regional economic integration goals in the area of ICTs

• Allows for harmonization of national regulatory frameworks as countries deregulate and liberalize their telecommunication markets

• Provides a framework for the development of information and communication infrastructure that can facilitate regional economic integration goals of the African continent.

• Provides an impetus for strengthening capacity at the sub-regional level in ICT for development and building a critical mass to facilitate regional integration through ICTs

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Benefits of RICI• Policy and Regulatory Integration:

– The creation of regional strategies would enable Africa to build economy of scale for developing its infrastructure and content and increase Africa's ability to negotiate globally.

• Regulatory integration at the regional level:– would create and strengthen the community/associations of regulators to facilitate

cross-boarder interaction, market enlargement and harmonization policies at the sub-regional and regional levels.

• Strengthen regional institutions:– to participate effectively in global ICT, as well as of decision-making bodies such as

ICANN, WTO, WIPO, ISOC etc.• Infrastructure Development:

– This will include the setting up of sub-regional backbones, exchange and interconnection points, with human resource development requirements.

• Mechanisms for sharing bandwidth within the sub-regions:– should be looked into as part of the facilitation of sub-regional and regional

interconnectivity.• Economic Policies:

– Establishing common tariffs for ICT products and services across borders as a key component of the harmonization process at sub-regional and regional levels.

• Potential for cost sharing in executing joint projects at sub-regional and regional levels:

– particularly the financing and strengthening of sub-regional and regional backbones to enhance connectivity in the region.