IST-Africa 2006: A call for papers
28 September 2005

Paper submissions are invited for the Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa (IST-Africa) 2006 Conference which will be held on 3-5 May 2006 at the CSIR International Convention Centre. The conference is the first in a series of annual conferences supported by the European Commission. The series is aimed at bringing together delegates from commercial, government and research organisations across Africa and Europe to close the digital divide through knowledge sharing, experience, and good practice.

IST-Africa is a multi-stakeholder initiative between corporations from Ireland, Malta, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania. South Africa is represented by the CSIR Meraka Institute and Laurens Cloete, Innovation Programme Manager at the Institute, sits on the conference programme committee which will chair sessions as well as review and provide feedback on papers and presentations.

Papers submitted should focus on a research or eAdoption topic on which a case study, initial or final results can be published. All papers, to be submitted no later than 30 November 2005, must highlight the level of innovation and actual or expected impact. General project descriptions are not appropriate. Submissions should be written in English, between 4000-5000 words in length and should be technical or visionary papers, and business or government case studies within the scope of the conference. The IST-Africa Paper Template should be used for this purpose.

Papers or sessions can take the form of:

• Presentation of innovative ICT achievements,
• Presentation of eAdoption achievements,
• Lessons learnt from case studies, regional and national programmes and initiatives,
• Discussion of future oriented technologies,
• Discussion of existing and emerging standards,
• Discussion of Emerging Research Areas or future oriented issues,
• Discussion of current status of eAdoption in a specific industry sector, country or region,
• Discussion of legal and contractual issues.

IST-Africa 2006 will focus on applied IST research topics addressing major societal and economic challenges, which is part of the European Commission’s Information Society Technologies (IST) programme. The programme combines strategic keynote presentations, technical and policy papers, case studies, workshops, an exhibition and social activities. Keynote speakers earmarked for the conference include Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, Ingo Juraske, VP EMEA, Hewlett-Packard Europe and Venâncio Massingue, Minister of Science and Technology, Mozambique.

For more information, please contact Madelein van den Berg
MvdBerg@csir.co.za