Theme: ICT For Development in Africa – Sustaining The Momentum, Extending The Reach

Emphasis of current research on ICTs in Africa has been on creating awareness, identifying potentials and building capacity. The fact that current challenges relating to infrastructure, security and government policies can slow down the benefits accruable from a virile ICT growth has also been highlighted. Empirical evidences on ICT adoption and diffusion in Africa reveals an upward growth. This fact is supported by the rapid increase in mobile telephone subscribers, online banking, the proliferation of e-government portals and electronic commerce. Firm-level variables such as financial capacity and technological absorptive capacity have also influenced the intensity of the adoption of ICTs thereby suggesting that globalization has also influenced the adoption of new technologies in Africa. Unfortunately, the developmental trend has concentrated in cities, metropolis and urban communities in Africa with millions still out of reach of the ICT development wave. This scenario raises two basic questions in the mind of ICT technocrats, practitioners and the academia. How can we sustain the present developmental momentum? What can be done to extend the reach of ICT to the unreached? There is an urgency to keep pace with ICT development and its benefits while also addressing possible areas of developmental benefit of ICT to other target groups. Rural dwellers, farmers, extension officers, health workers and social workers must be empowered to use and apply ICTs much more creatively and pragmatically to development problems beyond the internet-enabled PC telecenters. There is also the challenge of the non-involvement and imbalance of gender, dearth of sound ICT-roadmap and strategies by policy makers resulting in uncoordinated and unsustainable ICT-development activities.

This conference will bring together a fine mix of practitioners and academicians in the area of ICTs for sustainable development. The conference will explore the possibilities of continuity in terms of contributions from Africa to the ICT for Development discourse as well as initiate pragmatic measures needed to extend the ICT reach. The objective is to highlight the synergy of collaboration between African countries and other developing countries, and between African countries and the developed countries towards development solutions. Discussions and panel debates will focus on what can be done to sustain the developmental pace and close the ICT gap still existent in Africa. Workshops will examine international grant-seeking opportunities for ICT research and projects, the menace of cybercrime as a limiting factor on ICT for development and e-learning for African universities and new frontiers in telemedicine. In this respect, we highly appreciate your participation to enrich the diversity of perspectives and contents to be presented. We believe that your invaluable experience, insight and comments will add to what is potentially a very important discussion for developing nations.

Conference Committee
Prof. Victor Mbarika (PhD), Conference Chair
International Centre for Information Tech. & Dev. Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Dr. C.K. Ayo (PhD) - Conference Co-Chair -
Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

Prof. (Mrs) Adenike Osofisan (PhD) - Conference Co-Chair
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Prof. Adekunle Okunoye(PhD) - Conference Co-Chair
Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Dr. Olumide B. Longe (PhD) - Conference Grounds and Lead Track Chair
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Dr. Richard Boateng (PhD) - Conference Editorial & Publications Chair
International Centre for Information Tech. & Dev. Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Call for Papers

Presentations and papers are invited in the following key tracks:

1. Cyber Security & Cyber Ethics
2. ICT for Business
3. ICT for Education and Journalism
4. ICT and Healthcare
5. ICT, Poverty Alleviation and Community Development
6. Open-source Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa
7. ICT and Gender Development
8. Computer Systems Architecture
9. Fault Tolerance in ICT Systems
10. Distributed Computing
11. Mobile and Ubiquitous ICTs
12. ICT Project Management and Sustainability
13. Accounting Information Systems
14. ICT, Agricultural Development, Food production & Extension Services
15. Government and Conflict Resolution Using ICTs
16. ICT Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
17. Research Methods in ICT
18. ICT Diffusion and Teledensity
19. Human and Societal Issues in Information Systems

Important Dates

Full Paper Submission

Now Open Till September 30th 2010

Review Result Returned

October 31st 2010

Final Paper Submission

November 30th 2010

For further details please visit www.ictforafrica . You can also contact Dr. Longe Olumide at longeolumide@icitd.org or Dr. Richard Boateng at Richard@icitd.org