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iHub Research By Angela Crandall / September 27, 2011

ICT4Democracy in East Africa Workshop at iHub Research

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iHub Research hosts the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network

Members of the ICT for Democracy in East Africa Network:

• • Transparency International Uganda,

  • Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA),

  • Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC),

  • Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET),

  • Tanzania Commission for Human Rights and Good Goverance (CHRAGG),

  • Stockholm University,

  • the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER), and

  • iHub Research

gathered on 26 September 2011 for a workshop on ICT4Democracy in East Africa activities on-going in the region. During this meeting, which was held one day prior to the start of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2011, each project team provided updates on their implementation and research activities. CIPESA also shared their recently released briefing note, which explains the new Open Governance Partnership (OGP), looks at OGP indicators and prospects in selected African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa), and explores the role ICT could play in catalysing the achievement of Open Government in Africa.

The launch of this group, the “ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network”, in June of this year (2011) was premised on the recognition that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enhances communication and the right to freedom of expression, as well as the right to seek, receive, and impart information. In this respect, ICT has the potential to increase citizens’ participation in decision-making processes, thus strengthening democratization.

The ICT4Democracy in East Africa project, which has seed funding from SPIDER, is encouraging collaboration between democracy actors in the three countries (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) with a view to catalysing the role ICTs can play in enhancing civic empowerment and improving governance.

Stay up to date with the ICT4Democracy in East Africa by following ICT4demEA or #ICT4demEA on Twitter and Facebook. The new website, www.ict4democracy.org will also be up soon!

Author : Angela Crandall

Angela studies the uptake and increasing utility of ICTs in East Africa from a user’s perspective. Angela is currently a Research Manager at iHub and also co-lead of Waza Experience, an iHub community initiative aimed at prompting under-privileged children to explore innovation and entrepreneurship concepts grounded in real-world experience.