1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research
March 25-26, 2009 - Brussels, Belgium
Event report

“1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research” - A considerable success!
The “1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research” has been a great success. On March 24-25, over 320 participants from some 50 different countries - including both policy-makers and ICT researchers in the public and private sectors - met in Brussels (Belgium) to highlight the key issues that currently hamper the full deployment of ICTs in Africa and see how Europeans and Africans can collectively maximise their impact in bringing concrete responses to African needs, support the development of a truly inclusive Information Society on the continent, and enhance the development of Euro-Africa collaborative projects. The two-day event was organised by the European Commission (Directorate-General Information Society and Media - DG INFSO) with the support of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the EuroAfriCa-ICT EU/FP7 project, funded under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
 
High-level opening
The meeting was opened by Ms Viviane Reding (European Commissioner for DG INFSO) firstly through a video message (Ms Reding had to participate in a last minute Parliament session) and then through a member of her Cabinet: Mr Jan Ostraja-Ostraszewski. Ms Reding highlighted that Europe has a lot of experience and best practice to share and the EC is committed to support African institutions on the necessary policies and programmes needed to set-up and implement. “We are pursuing those objectives through two complementary Africa-EU Partnerships: the Partnership on Infrastructures, for supporting the rolling-out of trans-national physical backbones, and the Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space “the so-called 8th Partnership” for supporting complementary S&T and ICT capacities”, said Ms Reding and Mr Ostraja-Ostraszewski. "We look forward to working with all of you, in Africa and the EU, on ICT policy and research," added Commissioner Reding. "There are already tangible results of EU policy in research cooperation," complemented Jan Ostraja-Ostraszewski. "For example, there have already been more projects supported under the first call of FP7 than under the whole duration of FP6." Ms Vera Brenda Ngosi (Director, Directorate of Human Resources, Science and Technology, African Union Commission) thanked the EC for its determination to assist Africa adding that the Forum provided "an excellent opportunity for addressing mutual concerns and partnerships. We are opening a new chapter, and Africans are ready to work shoulder to shoulder with our European partners," she added. "ICTs in all forms are key to people-centred development," said Abdul Waheed Khan (UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information) "and UNESCO stands ready to play a catalytic role with the organisations present here at this Forum". The situation in Africa was put into context by Ms Sally Kosgei (Kenya's Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education) when she said: "Africa has a roadmap for development, but we have only taken the first step. We need to take a thousand more steps, otherwise we will be left behind. We have received some bilateral support from some EU countries and some support from the African Development Bank, but there is a need for proper coordination and to assess where we are."
 
Roundtable discussions
Among the discussions during the Forum were high-level sessions dedicated to “Africa-EU cooperation on ICT”, “EU-AU partnerships”, “EU, AUC and ACP programmes”, “private and public partnerships” (PPP), “African participation in FP7”, “e-Infrastructures”, technology roadblocks and socio-economic goals and applications. In the session on  EU, AUC and ACP programmes, Africa's isolation - the 'digital divide' - was highlighted. Among the solutions proposed were more regional integration and more investments in ICTs, including regulatory reforms and greater access to broadband communication. In the session on public-private partnerships, which focused on experiences and lessons learned, participants agreed that the fight against isolation had well and truly started and that there had been a shift in emphasis from the concept of cooperation for Africa towards cooperation with and in Africa, managed in Africa and by African personnel. Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah (Director, ICT and Science and Technology Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa - UNECA) highlighted the fact that there were a number of successful public-private partnerships operating in Africa, but pointed out that the the increasing influence of countries such as China and India – in terms of venture capital – provided a challenge to European companies and others present at the Forum. She also noted that there was a need to develop indigenous capacity in the private sector. This problem was also highlighted by Fabien Petitcolas (Head of Intellectual Capacity Development, Microsoft Research, UK). He noted that the research branch of Microsoft, based in Cambridge, UK, hired about 80 PhD graduates each year, but so far had not taken on any African. “The level of research in Africa does not reach the level of international conferences or journals,” he explained. Among Microsoft's efforts to counter this trend is the newly-established TWAS-AAS-Microsoft award scheme for young computer science researchers from Africa. Under this scheme, three talented young researchers from three different African countries will be honoured each year and provided with funds for their research work. But laboratory research is not all that is required, said Daniel Annerose, CEO of Senegal-based Manobi, a private ICT company: “we also need research into business models,” he said.
 
Connectivity is essential
To achieve any of these goals, however, improved connectivity is required. African scientists need to be able to communicate and collaborate with their peers in neighbouring countries, in Europe and elsewhere. And private companies need to be able to turn a profit by providing the means for such communication. As a continent, Africa is regarded as having the best location on the planet, situated mid-way between Europe and Asia. In contrast, South America, for example, can only realistically be connected to and through the United States. Africa's current satellite connectivity, however, has limited performance, such as low bandwidth and high latency. Two marine cables are in the process of being laid, one along each African coast, they will provide much needed connectivity. Jean Louis Permentier (COO of SEACOM) and John Sihra (chair of EASSy-WIOCC) were both confident that these cables would soon help resolve connectivity and bandwidth problems. However, there is still a need for connecting the interior of Africa, for example by supporting national networks which will lead to linking at the regional followed by continental levels, and finally globally. However, as one participant pointed out: “cables without traffic are useless - there is a need to devise efforts to enable Africa to generate its own traffic. “Thus, discussions also centred on African national research networks (NRENs) and how they could be linked to on another and to a similar network in Europe, GEANT2”.
 
Are roadblocks technological?
Roadblocks are not all technological. Technical solutions are available to many of the challenges faced when trying to reduce the digital divide. However, in many cases, they need to be adapted to local conditions and situations. For example, end-user solutions to Internet access seem to be focusing on the cell-phone in Africa, which is more affordable and more flexible. Indeed, the rate of increase in the use of mobile phones in Africa is currently twice the global rate of increase. Instead, panellists in the session focusing on technology roadblocks agreed: the real roadblocks relate to systems and processes. For example, the suitability of business models is not always optimal; there is a need for the convergence of technology and business; and there is a demand for locally relevant applications, but players in both the hardware and software industries need high volumes to make products cost effective. Other roadblocks are more linked to policy. “In seven sub-Saharan African countries it is considered a luxury to have a mobile phone,” informed Serge Ferré (Vice-president, Nokia Europe). “Is it a luxury to communicate? To do business? To obtain health information?” he asked. Another roadblock is the lack of trained personnel – a recurring theme throughout the two-days of the Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum. Nokia Europe are tackling this by supporting three research centres in Africa – in Kenya, Morocco and South Africa. Even so, for most ICT researchers in Africa (as in many other scientific disciplines) financial resources for students, materials, journals and salaries are limited. The final discussion session of the Cooperation Forum focused on socio-economic goals and applications, highlighting some of the successful initiatives currently in place. Chris Morris (ICT for Development Specialist, Meraka Institute, South Africa) for example, highlighted technologies that were making information accessible to rural communities, whereas Francesco Sicurello (President of the Italian Association of Telemedicine) provided an overview of a project that involves African doctors sending images to medical consultants in Italy so that experts can confirm diagnoses and give advice on treatment.
 
Conclusions
Summing up in the closing ceremony, Thierry Devars (Policy Officer, International Relations Unit, DG INFSO) concluded that there had been too many pilot projects in Africa, and that now was the time to move them to the commercial models. "This can be done," he said, "by developing partnerships and friendships between the EU and AUC." "The EU-AUC partnership is real," added Vera Brenda Ngosi, "and it is advancing, but it can move forward faster. In the opening panel session, Stefano Manservisi (Director-General, Directorate General Development - DG DEV - European Commission) noted that he was pleased, when looking out at the high level of participation at the Cooperation Forum. “Five years ago, this was not possible,” he said, referring to the fact that the seeds of political will in Europe to assist Africa had been sown, and that there was at least enough capacity in Africa to be able to nurture these seeds into something viable. As a result of the connections made and opportunities for collaboration discussed during the “1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research”, increasing the pace of development in Africa has been given a major boost. It is hoped that, in five years time, cooperative ICT research and development programmes initiated at this Forum have begun to bear fruit.