Kenya’s new Minister of Information and Communication, Hon. Raphael Tuju, has announced his support for the liberalisation and advancement of ICT policy in Kenya following a week-long ICT policy advocacy workshop in Nairobi organised by APC. The multi-stakeholder workshop – which ran from 19-23 July – brought together some of the most influential ICT policy stakeholders from civil society organisations, the private sector and the media from nine African countries.

The Americas Social Forum 2004 takes place in Quito, Ecuador July 25-30. APC is at the event offering a workshop on ICT policies and gender, as a joint initiative of the LAC ICT Policy Monitor and the Latin American network of the APC Women’s Programme (WNSP), with the support of APC member in Ecuador, INTERCOM.

In a few years, an old woman in rural Africa should be able, if all goes according to plan, to connect to the net and communicate with her children in the city. This is what an information and communications technology (ICT) workshop held in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, by APC is seeking to explore.

Three high school students announced at a press conference that fingerprinting Korean nationals on their seventeenth birthday in order to obtain their national ID cards is unconstitutional. This is the first time teenagers have filed a constitutional petition against the fingerprinting system, says APC member, Jinbonet.

The system which enforces fingerprinting was implemented with the revision of the Resident Registration Act over thirty year ago and civil and social organizations have repeatedly asserted the fingerprinting system exists only in South Korea and should be abolished.

Conference-goers at a major multistakeholder event dedicated to discussing Kenya’s draft ICT policy were outraged to discover that the most recent government draft was ‘confidential’ and only being circulated to a select few. “Efforts to query the government representatives present did not bear fruit and incredulous delegates were advised to contact the relevant ministry and demand a copy as tax-paying citizens who have the right to access public policy documents,” informs APC’s Africa ICT Policy Monitor. Read the latest edition of Chakula, APC’s African ICT policy newsletter, just out!

In a letter to the Zambian ministry for communications and transport, APC has commended the Zambian government for its efforts in drafting a holistic national ICT policy and for disseminating the draft online to make it possible for the public to submit comments. “We value the broad definition of ICT adopted early in the document,” says APC, but “Some important policy concerns are mentioned as action points for implementation without a clear enough policy position that would give direction during implementation. Some are left out altogether.” Read the full letter as featured in this month’s “Chakula” – APC’s ICT policy newsletter for African civil society.

Un foro mundial sobre gobernanza de internet, realizado por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) en marzo fue la plataforma más abierta e inclusiva que ha habido hasta el momento para tratar temas de gobernanza de internet, pero el tiempo fue demasiado escaso como para desglosar las diversas áreas de política y reglamentaciones que se agrupan bajo el título "gobernanza de internet". Hay una gran inquietud en cuanto a la responsabilidad y legitimidad de las actuales estructuras de gobernanza en internet, pero a la vez, el tono general es, como se dice en ingles, "si no esta del todo roto, para qué repararlo". Sin embargo, no hay acuerdo acerca de qué no anda bien, y por lo tanto, tampoco en cuanto a lo que hay de mejorar.