ICT Policy in South Africa

	South Africa
	South Africa
	South Africa and ICT policy News Information Analysis Bibliographies Books Campaigns Case studies Charters and declarations - governmental Charters and declarations - organisational Charters and declarations - civil society Comparative studies Country reports Definitions Diagnoses Discussion papers Editorials Feasibility studies Historical background Introductory/getting started Legislation Legislative bills Lessons learned Literature reviews Magazine features Mission statements Newsletters Opinion Overviews Policy Documents Political speeches Presentations Proposals Reports Surveys White papers

This page collects news, documentation, resources, events news and information about organisations all related to ICT policy in South Africa. Recommended reading will automatically appear on this page and is marked with a star.

The editors review a wide variety of news and other sources to collect this material, however sometimes ICT development and/or debate is very limited in a country and so information available will be scarce. APC tries to remedy this situation by commissioning reports. Contact us if you have a suggestion.

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On South Africa in the APC Monitor

News

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 Survivor joins telecoms pledge drive
14/10/2006 (Tectonic) -- A South African Survivor contestant, Zayn Nabbi, has put down his R200 towards the Telecoms Action Group's (TAG) advert campaign this week. TAG plans to take out a full-page advert in a South African newspaper complaining about the lack of pace of change in the country's telecommunications environment. It has drummed up considerable support for its effort. South Africa | Telecommunications

 'Make up your mind' Shuttleworth tells govt
03/11/2006 (Tectonic) -- Software entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth has urged the South African government to decide on an ICT strategy for the country and deliver on it. For anyone who has heard him speak in the last year this is not exactly a new line of argument. Let's hope this time that someone is listening. South Africa | ICT4D, National ICT Strategies, Software

 Internet governance up on the African agenda
01/01/2007 (Pambazuka News) -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) have signed an MOU on increasing the awareness of internet governance issues and growing the use of the internet in Africa. "The Internet is all about sharing ideas and information - and this MOU is signed in that spirit," said Paul Twomey, ICANN's president and CEO. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Internet Governance

 No more EASSy puns
04/03/2007 (ITWeb) -- The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) has been renamed The Nepad Broadband Infrastructure Network (NBIN). That's after Kenya opted out of the ambitious undersea fibre optic backbone system, says South African communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. The move has caused some controversy. International, Kenya, South Africa | Access

 Telkom SA bleeds top brass
06/04/2007 (Tectonic) -- Telkom SA's CEO Papi Molotsane has left the operator after just 18 months; and under apparently less than amicable circumstances. He is the third senior executive to leave the operator in the past month. Telkom SA has come under heavy fire recently, both from the South African government and disgruntled consumers. South Africa | Access, Telecommunications

 South Africa: State shows the money
20/04/2007 (IT Web) -- Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Broadband Infrastructure Company (Infraco), a state-owned enterprise that will provide electronic communications network services.
By leveraging state infrastructure, Infraco will offer nationwide connectivity for telecoms providers at low cost. South Africa | Access, Telecommunications

 South Africa: No fear of Microsoft patent threats
18/05/2007 (Tectonic) -- Local open source developers and companies in South Africa do not seem particularly concerned by recent claims by Microsoft that FOSS infringes on no fewer than 235 of its patents. South Africa | Software

 Telkom SA's monopoly will go, insists minister
28/05/2007 (ITWeb) -- South Africa's communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has slammed media reports that a four-year period to unbundle the local loop extends Telkom's monopoly. This follows criticism after her budget speech before parliament last week. South Africa | Telecommunications

 South Africa: E-waste on screen
29/05/2007 (ITA) -- Electronic waste is receiving some attention from ICT vendors and waste activists in South Africa. A recent conference organised by the country's IT association (ITA), and the non-profit organisation SANGONeT, showed that local government, as well as big business, is starting to take the e-waste challenge in Africa seriously. South Africa | ICT4D, National ICT Strategies

 South Africa: Have a heart, minister tells editors
14/06/2007 (WAN) -- South Africa's deputy president has told editors from across the world that the government is embarrassed at the high cost of telephony in the country. Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking at the 60th World Newspaper Congress held in Cape Town recently. She also asked the editors to help in the country's PR department, if they had a heart. South Africa | Media, Telecommunications

Information

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Analysis

 Social networks: Activists move in...
06/03/2009 -- Facebook is not just a way to get back in touch with old classmates from school or see what your “friends” are up to. Activists around the world are taking advantage of this new virtual space to expand their reach and establish more immediate and interactive contact with individuals and organisations from an ever wider range of backgrounds. ITeM, an APC member in Uruguay, talked with APCNoticias about how it is using this web-based tool, and shared some practical advice for others who are experimenting with social networks and other Web 2.0 tools. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Communication Rights

 

 South Africa: Building rural legal capacity through ICTs
03/03/2009 -- APC members have been preaching the importance of bundling capacity building with technology projects for a long time. Last year, Ungana-Afrika demonstrated the value of this approach in their work in rural South Africa with under-resourced paralegal advice offices just getting connected to the internet for the first time. South Africa | Access

 

 Survey of e-learning in Africa
03/03/2009 -- According to this 10-page report, e-learning is in its infancy in Africa; but the evidence suggests that there is nevertheless considerable enthusiasm for the potential that it offers across the educational spectrum, not only for universities and schools, but also for vocational training, for lifelong learning, and for marginalised groups such as street children and those with disabilities. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Communication Rights

 

 South Africa: Life after Vodacom
03/03/2009 -- What does the future hold for Telkom once it sheds its stake in Vodacom? Business Day's Leslie Stones investigates. South Africa | Telecommunications

 

Introductory/getting started

 Fibre: 'Arteries of the modern world'
18/09/2008 -- They are the arteries of the modern world. Stretching for tens of thousands of miles over the ocean beds, the vast web of intercontinental submarine cables have brought the possibility of cheap high-speed internet and clear long-distance telephone calls to all major parts of the globe. Except one. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Access

 

 So what is 'net neutrality'?
21/02/2008 -- So what is 'net neutrality'? A case example from the United States puts you in the picture. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Access, Communication Rights, Internet Governance

 

 GETTING STARTED: What is 'net neutrality'?
16/07/2007 -- The principle of 'net neutrality', sometimes referred as “network neutrality” or “internet neutrality”, is about equal access to the internet. It is concerned with the fact that everybody's content should receive equal treatments in terms of speed and reliability, and be transmitted on a first-in-first-out basis. It also refers to an internet network that is free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment attached and the modes of communication allowed. GenderIT.org has compiled a useful reference for ICT jargon. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Access, Content and Language, Gender , Intellectual Property, Internet Governance, Media, National ICT Strategies, Security and Privacy, Software, Telecommunications, WSIS

 

 Translation: ICT policy beginners' handbook
16/03/2007 -- ICT Policy - A Beginner's Handbook, a flagship publication by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), has been translated into French. The handbook lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. The new French version is part of APC's efforts to make French its third full official language before the end of this year. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | ICT4D

 

Policy Documents

 Work together, minister tells software vendors
07/04/2008 -- "I would like to appeal to vendors to listen to the demands of consumers as well as Free Software developers. Please work together to produce interoperable document standards. The proliferation of multiple standards in this space is confusing and costly..." The full text of the address by South Africa's minister of public service and administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, at the third Idlelo open source conference in Dakar. Senegal, South Africa | Software

 

 IGF: perparation for RIO, 2007
10/10/2007 -- The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Advisory Group met in Geneva on 4-5 September to prepare the second meeting of the IGF to be held in Rio de Janeiro on 12-15 November 2007. This document summarizes the discussions under each agenda item. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Internet Governance

Advisory Group Meeting: Summary Report, Geneva, 4-5 September 2007 ( RTF)
 

 Consolidated technology action plan for Africa
10/04/2007 -- Africa has developed a consolidated action plan on science and technology that integrates the programmes and projects of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) into the structures of the African Union. Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action attempts to articulate the continent's common objective of socio-economic transformation and full integration into the world economy. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | National ICT Strategies

 

 The Dakar Resolution
20/09/2005 -- Resolution, called “Africa’s Common Position on Internet Governance”, taken by African ICT ministers in Dakar in September 2005 in light of global developments such as the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | National ICT Strategies