The aim of this project is to create a collaborative online community to bring to together all civil society stakeholders and initiatives directed at bridging the digital divide in Africa . This project will be in pursuit of the MDG to “develop a global partnership for development” Thus, the purpose of the project is to first and fore mostly address the digital divide between those in Africa who are working to bridge the digital divide (a bridge in order to bridge). Ultimately this community will create the infrastructure and framework to effectively participate in the global network of communities focused on IT and development; in other words, not only to link communities but also to link top-level initiatives with real life on the ground. The online community will function to create a forum for:

• Developing joint digital divide initiatives
• To share case studies and best practices
• To develop common policy frameworks
• To develop joint resources such as a online library of digital documents

This project will consist of three components or sub-projects: a research project, a case study and an action project. We will describe these in more detail.

One of the major problems facing any change project is to have a legitimate and broad basis for developing dialogue, consensus and action. This implies that one knows:

• who are the key actors (institutions and individuals)
• how to engage them
• where resources are available
• what structures/institutions exist (or are necessary) to mobilize actors and resources
• And so forth

This project will answer these questions. In order to answer these questions a research project will be launched. The project will culminate in a workshop on the digital divide civil society in Africa (and possibly Latin America ) where key stakeholders will be represented.

The project will consist of the following phases:

Phase 1: Collecting information

In this phase information will be collected starting with a number of known stakeholders such as:

• The Southern African Development Community (SADC)
• Bridges.org
• Global Alliance for ICT Policy and Development
• UNDP
• UN ICT Task Force
• The Digital Diaspora Network ( Digital Bridge Africa )
• Digital Partners
• Connectivity Africa
• Open Knowledge Network
• Digital Divide Network

The methodology for collecting the information would be to contact each of these organizations with the intention to:

• Identify other relevant stakeholders
• Collect information about existing projects or initiatives
• Collect information about existing resources
• Identify key issues that will enable/constrain the development of a online collaborative community

The process of collecting data will continue until no new information emerges

Phase 2: Analysis of information

In this phase the data collected will be organized and analyzed in order to develop a map of all the major actors involved in bridging digital divide in Africa as well as a map of all the relevant issues in this regard. The analysis will produce a draft document that will serve as a database as well as input to the action project

Phase 3: The production and dissemination of output

In this phase the project will involve the following:

• A workshop where the draft document will be discussed and where the major actors can be mobilized for the action project
• The creation of a website (with a online database) in which institutions and project can be registered and where relevant information can be disseminated
• The creation of a report that can become the basis for seeking funding for the action project (project 1.3 below)

MISTICA – Methodology and Social Impact of Information Technology and Communication in Latin America URL for MISTICA: http://www.funredes.org/mistica/

MISTICA is a collaborative online community that aims to strengthen the social actors of ICTs of Latin America and the Caribbean , through the constitution of a human network for research and appropriation of new technologies. The main objective of the project was and is to achieve a reflective virtual community capable of collaboration—not just the sharing of information but the creation of collaborative products.

The two promoters of the project are IDRC ( International Development Research Center of the Canadian Government – http://www.idrc.ca ) and the FPH (Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind – http://sente.epgl.ch/fph/) . The main implementing organization is Networks and Development Foundation, FUNREDES (Fundación Redes y Desarrollo - http://funredes.org ).

The main objectives of MISTICA was:

• To identify and contact active researchers and institutions working in social development in Latin America from the ICT perspective.
• Develop and reinforce exchanges and cooperation in research between key actors.
• To debate collectively, in face to face meetings or through the Internet, agenda and priorities regarding the challenges of the ICTs for the development of the region.
• Organize a regional meetings to debate key problems and define strategic priorities for research and action regarding ICT for development.
• To organize and experiment with tools of virtual community before, during and after the regional meeting.
• To organize and maintain a reference web site (clearinghouse) with the regional information related to projects, activities, experiences and contacts of the ICTs for development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Follow key ideas and support the definition of projects with seed funds.

The specific products that MISTICA produced (and is producing) are:

• A human network for research and appropriation of the ICTs for development.
• A methodology for the articulation of virtual communities and to allow participation at a distance in localized meetings.
• A "clearinghouse" or network of decentralized information about actors, projects and activities related to the social impact of the ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The aim of this project is to build a collaborative online community to bring to together all civil society stakeholders and initiatives directed at bridging the digital divide in Africa . The success of this project would be an active virtual community of relevant actors that coordinates, collaborates and action projects towards bridging the digital divide in and between Africa and the rest of the Information Society.

The project will attempt to learn from cases such as MISTICA and not reinvent the knowledge available and required to achieve its aims.

The project will consist of the following phases:

Phase 1: The identification of the principle participants and the preparation of a regional meeting with associated information and communication resources. The objective of the meeting would be the production of a document to orient the project and establish an initial steering group to guide the development of the project. This phase will draw heavily on the output of project 1.1.

Phase 2: A regional meeting of approximately 25-30 regional actors. The regional meeting will start the process of the collaborative development of the principle structure, management, infrastructure and support of the online community. The online community will evolve as the first collaborative product of the assembled actors.

Phase 3: The creation of the ICT infrastructure (the bridge) to enable a human network of social actors supported by the experimentation with a series of pilot applications. A number of areas of functionality are envisaged such as:

• Online database of actors, projects, funding agencies, etc
• A virtual community infrastructure consisting of:
• A mailing list
• A discussion board
• A meeting space
• A resource library
• An administrative and support infrastructure
• A publicly available library of resources accumulated and generated by the virtual community

Phase 4: The evaluation and dissemination of the project on an annual basis.

It is also hoped that the online community will be involved in providing input to initiatives such as WISIS and to attract funding for a number of pilot projects to be launched and coordinated by CoCombridge.

Co-Chairs
Reports
Case Study
Projects
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Research
Papers
Commissions Thematic Meetings
Programme Slot Explained
Links