"While ICT cannot address all of [Africa's] problems, they can do much to place Africa on a firmer industrial footing... and strengthen the continent's human resources, with training that leads to sustainable livelihoods." Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General (20.11.2002)

Supported by the European Commission under FP6 and FP7, IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) is a multi-stakeholder Initiative focused on:

- Supporting JEG8 Activities & Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership

- Skills Transfer to Support Research Capacity Building & STI Development in Africa

- Community building to support EU-African Research Cooperation

During 2005 - 2007 with European Commission funding under the IST Programme of Framework Programme 6 (FP6), IST-Africa has trained over 1,000 government officials and researchers in Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania (in key areas including eGovernment, eHealth, eLearning) and organised two very successful international research conferences in Africa; IST-Africa 2006 (304 delegates from 38 countries) hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science & Technology, and IST-Africa 2007 (over 470 delegates from 51 countries) hosted by the Government of Mozambique through the Ministry of Science & Technology.

During 2008 - 2009 with European Commission funding under the ICT Programme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa has raised awareness of African research capacity, promoted participation of African organizations in the ICT Theme of FP7 (FP7-ICT), ACP-ICT and ACP-ST Calls and identified co-operation opportunities in fields of mutual interest. IST-Africa 2008 was hosted by Government of Namibia through Ministry of Education in Windhoek, 07 - 09 May 2008 and IST-Africa 2009 Conference was hosted by Government of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT in Kampala, 07 - 09 May 2009.

IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) 2010 - 2011 is a collaborative Initiative between IIMC (Ireland, Coordinator), Department of Science and Technology (South Africa), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Botswana), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Lesotho), Ministry of Education (Namibia), ICT Policy Implementation Technical Unit (Mozambique), National Computer Board (Mauritius), COSTECH - Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kenya), Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Burundi), Ministry in President's Office in charge of Information and Communication Technology (Rwanda), Agence Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (Cameroon), Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique (Senegal) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Egypt). IST-Africa 2010 - 2011 is supported by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

During 2009 - 2011, IST-Africa is focused on supporting the Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society & Space; strengthening the research dimension of Information Society policy dialogues between the European Commission and African countries and key regional organisations; analysis of African ICT policy and research priorities, including long term perspectives aligned with EU priorities and recommendations for future Africa - EU co-operation initiatives, including identification of matching counterpart funding and raising wider awareness of African research capacity, promoting participation of African organizations in the ICT Theme of FP7 (FP7-ICT) and identifying co-operation opportunities in fields of mutual interest. The goal is to increase visibility of mutual RTD potential and network relevant European and African stakeholders. The Annual IST-Africa Conference provides an opportunity to showcase relevant research capacity. IST-Africa 2010 (19 - 21 May) is hosted by South Africa.

The 2010 AU Summit takes place in Addis Ababa on 29 January - 02 February 2010 and will be attended by the Heads of States and Governments. The theme of the 2010 Summit is "Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development". During this Summit, key issues for consideration will be: (a) The Enabling Environment for Growth; (b) ICT Infrastructure Development; (c) Africa in the Economics of the Internet and (d) Capacity Building and Research & Development

In parallel with the Summit, the Department of Human Resources Science and Technology, AUC in cooperation with UNECA are organising an Exhibition of Information Communication Technologies and Innovation for Africa. The IST-Africa Exhibition stand will showcase activities ongoing in the 14 partner countries, promote IST-Africa 2010 and showcase the Africa4All Parliamentary Initiative

Hosted by the Government of the South Africa through the Department of Science and Technology and Supported by the European Commission, IST-Africa 2010 will take place 19 - 21 May 2010 in Durban. IST-Africa 2010 is the fifth in this Annual Conference Series.

The Advance Programme consists of two plenary sessions and 40 parallel sessions featuring over 130 presenters from government, commercial and research organisations in 39 countries (18 European countries, 18 African countries, 4 Others). The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2010 is based on an open Call for Papers which closed in late November 2009. For more information, click here

There is currently one Call for Proposal open - FP7-ICT-2009-6.

IST-Africa has prepared a Guide to FP7 to assist organisations looking at the Framework Programme 7 for the first time. This Guide provides an overview of FP7, how to go about identifying relevant research areas, open Action Lines, how to prepare a budget and Frequently Asked Questions.

The Work Programme for ICT Research in Framework Programme 7 (FP7) for 2009 and 2010 was published on 19 November 2008 with an update in July 2009.

FP7-ICT-2009-6 opened on 24 November 2009 with a closing date of 13 April 2010 .

Open objectives include:

- ICT 2009.2.1 Cognitive Systems and Robotics, Instruments: CP, CSA (CA only)

- ICT 2009.4.1 Digital Libraries and Digital Preservation, Instruments: CP, NoE, CSA

- ICT 2009.5.3 Virtual Physiological Human, Instruments: CP, CSA

- ICT 2009.6.2 ICT for Mobility of the Future, Instruments: CP, CSA

- ICT 2009.8.7,8,9,10 FET-Proactive, Instruments: CP, CSA

- ICT 2009.9.1 International Cooperation, Instruments: CP (STREP/SICA only)

To download the Call documentation and Guide for Applicants, please click here and then click on FP7-ICT-2009-6

IST-Africa organised FP7 Training Workshops in Bujumbura, hosted by Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Burundi on Friday 30 October, in Kigali, hosted by Ministry in President's Office in charge of Information and Communication Technology, Rwanda on Monday 02 November and in Mauritius, hosted by National Computer Board on Friday 06 November. These workshops focused on Calls for Proposals currently open.

IST-Africa organised a half day workshop entitled "IST-Africa -Linking European & African Researchers" to raise awareness of African research capacity and encourage the participation of African research organisations in proposals submitted under the upcoming Calls for FP7 on Thursday 21 October, as part of the eChallenges e-2009 Conference.

IST-Africa organised FP7 Training Workshops in Lesotho on 21 September hosted by Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology Lesotho, in Botswana on 23 September hosted by Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology, Botswana, Dar es Salaam on 28 September hosted by COSTECH and Maputo on 30 September, hosted by UTICT. These workshops focused on FP7-ICT-Call 5, FP7-ICT-Call 6 and - FP7-AFRICA-2010.

Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) in cooperation with IIMC organised a follow on IST-Africa FP7 Training Workshop in Kampala, Uganda on Friday 06 March '09 focused on Call 4.

DG Information Society and Media in cooperation the Department of Science and Technology of South-Africa, is organising a workshop on 11 February 2009 at DG INFSO premises (Brussels, 33 Avenue de Beaulieu, room 0/54) on cooperation opportunities with South-Africa in ICT/FP7, with a specific focus on the Call 4 targeted objectives. This workshop was well attended.

IST-Africa organised a half day workshop entitled "IST-Africa -Linking European & African Researchers" to raise awareness of African research capacity and encourage the participation of African research organisations in proposals submitted under the new workprogramme for 2009 - 2010 on Thursday 23 October, as part of the eChallenges e-2008 Conference

The Department of Science and Technology South Africa organised a FP7 Financial Guidelines Training Workshop in association with ESASTAP and IST-Africa in Johannesburg on 15 - 17 July '08. Click here for more information.

IST-Africa organised a series of FP7 Training Workshops in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda between 26 November and 19 December 2007 in relation to Call 3 of FP7-ICT (FP7-ICT-2007-3).

On 01 October 2008, the European Commission and African Union Commission held a College-to-College meeting in Brussels to agree the next phase of the Implementation of the 8th Partnership (Science, Information Society and Space). A Joint Statement was published outlining the six agreed projects for early delivery out of the 19 "lighthouse projects" identified and designed by the African Union Commission (AUC) to respond to African needs that would serve as the framework for implementing the EU/AU Partnership on Science, ICT and Space and its Action plan. The 2 projects in the ICT theme selected are the "African Internet Exchange System", focused on enhancing internet deployment and use in Africa, and "Africa Connect" to extend the reach of the European research and education high-speed network GEANT to Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Implementation Teams have been put in place in Europe and Africa to monitor progress. Click here for more information on the 8th Partnership

DG Research launched a new Call focused on two major areas: Water and Food Security and Better Health for Africa. It was focused on a holistic approach involving various scientific and technological research fields such as food, agriculture, health, land and water resources including their interaction with climate change and integrating broader socio-economic factors such as migration and resettlement, urbanisation, health care systems and programme interventions.

For more information, please visit FP7-Africa-2010

To download the Call documentation, please click here and then click on Call Identifier - "FP7-AFRICA-2010".

An Open Day was held in Brussels on 18 September. Click here to download the brochure for more information.

FP7-Infrastructures-2010-2 opened on 30 July with a closing date of 24 November 2009.

More information is available in the e-Infrastructure 2010 Work Programme

The Work Programme for ICT Research in Framework Programme 7 (FP7) for 2009 and 2010 was published on 19 November 2008 with an update in July 2009. Call 4 closed on 01 April 2009.

Call 5 opened on 30 July with a closing date of 26 October '09. For more information, please visit Framework Programme 7

The ACP Science and Technology Programme opened on 24 November 2008 with a closing date for receipt of postal submissions in Brussels of 27 February '09. It is funded by the European Union (from the IXth European Development Fund and the European Union's General Budget BL 21.031700) and implemented by the ACP Secretariat. Thematic areas being supported include: Quality health care, Environmental research activities, Energy, Transport, Agriculture and agro-industry and Sustainable trade. Click here for more information.

The European Commission published the ACP-Information and Communication Technologies [@CP-ICT] Programme under its 9th European Development Fund. The Contracting Authority is the ACP Secretariat. Click here for more information. IST-Africa supported the identification of European and African partners and the submission of a number of proposals under this Call.