Effective Governance, transparent public services and citizen empowerment through Information and Communication Technologies is the theme of the 4^th Annual e-Governance Africa Forum 2010 in Maputo, Mozambique, from 23 to 25 March.

Organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in conjunction with the ICT Ministry of Mozambique, the Forum is part of the CTO’s mandate to facilitate and promote ICT development through knowledge-sharing events.

At a time when ICTs are defining the way the world lives and conducts business, it is important for African governments to evolve themselves to meet the demands of changing trends in order to deliver effective services and to improve the quality of life of their citizenry. This also requires the formation of Public Private Peoples Partnerships to be geared towards achieving developmental goals through the application of ICTs to governance (e-governance/e-government), electoral processes (e-democracy), food and nutrition (e-agriculture), health delivery (e-health/telemedicine), learning and capacity development (e-education) and trade (e-commerce), among others.

During the Forum, key ICT authorities and stakeholders in both the public and private sectors will deliberate on matters affecting the implementation of ICT and e-Governance policy and regulatory frameworks.

Key topics will include: Government policy and regulation; Private sector initiatives; Public Private Partnerships; Funding; Infrastructure; Technology; Service provision; Capacity building; Content generation; e-Gov and revenue generation; Empowering marginalised groups: women, youth and rural communities; and Practical case studies.

The CTO hopes to partner with delegates to promote Public Private Peoples Partnership for Africa’s achievement of the UN millennium development goals through ICTs. The CTO is calling for papers for presentation at the Forum – either in the form of case studies or expertise in any of the key topic areas. Among the international delegation present at the Forum will be Policy Makers, Regulators, Operators, Financiers, Academicians, Technology and Software Developers,International Aid Agents and Civil Society Operatives.

Those interested in presenting at the Forum are asked to contact Samuel Fletcher using the contact details below, along with the title of their presentation and four key bullet points for review and possible inclusion in the conference agenda. A brief biographical description of previous speaking experience would alsobe appreciated.

• Telephone: +44 208 600 3809 or e-mail s.fletcher@cto.int
• For more information on this event visit: http://www.cto.int