Malawians are eagerly waiting for the
coming into force of the National ICT4D Policy whose final
draft was concluded in October 2005 prior to the second phase
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Currently the government is working on an ICT4D Strategic
Plan and the Universal Access Policy. With the nature of ICT
the procrastination in passing the ICT4D Policy at the
cabinet level the delay is worrying and detrimental to
Malawi’s aspirations of attaining giant leaps in the area of
ICT. We have therefore earmarked a number of activities aimed
at fast-tracking the process. Our initial plan was to start
with Members of Parliament but we could not meet their budget
in terms of fuel, accommodation and Daily Subsistence
Allowance costs and we immediately changed our focus to the
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). For the CSOs, ICT is no
longer a technology but a set of tools that are going to
shape the future of our daily activities either good or bad.
The good side of ICTs is well extolled elsewhere but the
underhand of information society is rarely given prominence.
Therefore in pre-empting an emerging environment the CSOs
represent an important constituency in the building of an
equitable information society.
Through this project a A Civil Society ICT4D National
Workshop was conducted at the Riverside Hotel starting from
the 21st- 22nd January 2008.
a. Workshop Objectives
1. To provide an understanding of the current ICT landscape
in Malawi
2. To provide an understanding of the ICT Policy making
process in Malawi
3. To identify opportunities in the ICT Policy process for
Civil Society engagement
4. To solicit interest in an eRiding project to be pursued by
the represented organizations
b. Expected outcomes for Participants
○ Improved understanding of the current ICT landscape in
Malawi
○ Improved understanding of the ICT Policy making process in
Malawi including the majors stakeholders
○ Identification of opportunities in the ICT Policy making
process for activism by the CSOs
○ Interest solicited for a joint eRiding project
The project was made possible with funding from the Hivos
Foundation’s Micro Fund to the tune of Euros 10, 000.
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