Hosted by the Government of Tanzania through the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission and Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE, IST-Africa 2012 will take place from 09 – 11 May 2012.
Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2011 is the seventh in an Annual Conference Series which brings together senior representatives from leading commercial, government & research organisations across Africa and from Europe, to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice and discussing policy related issues.
IST-Africa 2012 Focus
IST-Africa 2012 will focus on the Role of ICT for Africa’s Development and specifically on Applied ICT research topics addressing major societal and economic challenges, which is part of the European Commission’s Information Communications Technologies (ICT) Theme of FP7. The Conference Programme combines strategic keynote presentations, technical and policy papers, case studies, workshops, an exhibition and social activities.
IST-Africa directly supports the goals of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) and the Consolidated Plan of Action for the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE).
In the context of focusing on the Role of ICT for Africa’s Development, the Opening Plenary on Wednesday 09 May will feature a high level dialogue on Implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space. The Closing Plenary on Friday 11 May will focus on Initiatives Supporting Development of Regional Science, Technology and Innovation.
Call for Papers Deadline 30 November
The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2012 is based on an open Call for Papers
The core thematic areas are eHealth, eInfrastructures, Living Labs, Technology Enhanced Learning and ICT Skills, Digital Libraries and Intelligent Content, Open Source Software, ICT for eInclusion and eAccessibility, ICT for Environmental Sustainability, RFID and Networked Enterprise, Cloud Computing, eGovernment, Mobile Applications (including mEducation and Social Networking), Transformation of Research Results into Local Innovation and IPv6.
Interested presenters are encouraged to prepare an 8 page paper (4,000 – 5,000) words following the IST-Africa 2012 paper guidelines and paper template for submission online by 22 November. For more information, click here
All submissions will be double blind reviewed by the International Programme Committee and authors will receive feedback in January. Accepted authors will then be invited to submit a final paper taking account of feedback provided for inclusion in the conference proceedings by 29 February.
IST-Africa 2012 Exhibition
IST-Africa 2012 will also feature an Exhibition that provides the opportunity to showcase research results and applications through technology demonstrations, whether funded commercially or at national, regional or European level. The Call for Exhibitors will open in December and close on 29 February.
Goals
The goals of the IST-Africa Conference Series are Community Building to facilitate EU-African research cooperation and successful exploitation of research results, to stimulate take-up of RTD results by industry, Small and Medium Sized Businesses and the public sector, to promote knowledge sharing between commercial organizations, government agencies and the research community, to exchange experiences about the current state of eAdoption at a sectoral, national or regional level, support International Cooperation and open up the European Research Area (ERA) to Africa.
The IST-Africa Conference will provide a collegiate setting for presentations and discussions of national and regional developments, issues of concern and good practice models. It will also provide an excellent networking environment for delegates to discuss problems, share knowledge, obtain feedback, and learn more about opportunities to participate in ICT Calls under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).
