it@ab supports Interregional Cooperation in the SADC

Behind the programme is large all time growing group of stakeholders from the private and public sector from Africa and also Europe.

Wise Africa Process is including five different, but combined training projects, job creation / incubation processes, training project, building and operating e-centres for access points and one-stop-service spots. There is also a children’s international network process: 3 Camp Schools, which will also create new jobs to conservancies.

We are also building the African Digital Community net-solution as an African-European co-operation for all sorts of communities and people. It is combining computers, cell phones and other digital devices to one easy-to use system

Wise Africa will be the biggest civil society training process in Africa - as such.

Two Projects are for immediate implementation:

1. African Digital Community Multi-Platform Project

The African Digital Community Project is building technology and (basic) content ready tools for communities to benefit from networking by using ICT and Internet with multipurpose eLearning, eCommerce, eGovernance, group working solutions, multimedia publishing systems and multi channel electric and digitalized traditional (print, TV. Radio) systems. It is a wide international project between companies from Finland, Europe and African Countries serving public and private sector but first of all citizens own communities.

2. National Wise Africa Information Society Processes

- to build access possibilities for citizens in the form of- multipurpose e-Centers and to train your Government management in Central, Regional & Local Level for Leadership in Information Society.
- to train all or thousands of teachers to cope with new challenges of ICT, New Learning Environments and e-learning.
- to train hundreds of thousands of citizens in to basic Ict skills and understanding the possibilities in Information Society and how to benefit of it.

We focus on training and giving digital tools and access to all citizens to use modern technology, networks and creating new welfare by networking through their organisations and to the world.

The Wise Africa process is organized by wide range of stakeholders from private and public sector. The start decision has been done in Namibia where operation has started as well as in Malawi and Tanzania.

Wise Africa is part of the it@ab network of Information Technology for African Businesses. It@ab covers seven African countries and has over 30 institutional members, private ICT-, training, trade-, tele-, consulting and other companies. In each member country there are also Universities as members. InWEnt gGmbH (Capacity Building International, Germany) in cooperation with reputed IT consulting firms, IT training institutions, business promotion agencies and universities as well as internet service providers established it@ab in 2000 in the SADC region (Angola, Malawi, Mosambique, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia). The it@ab Network is financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
This WISE implementation initiative is led by Wise Africa steering committee where there are already representatives from Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania and Finland. The main partners are NETACADEMY Open Source University & NETACADEMY Africa CC, Namibia, AGUMBA Computers Limited, Tanzania, BUMAS International, Malawi, UNIVERSITY of Tanzania Computing Centre.

Wise Africa is following and has been carefully planned from strategies, visions and ideas that the Governments have set up in each country. It is following the guidelines accepted in the World Summit of Information Society plan of United Nations and accepted by the Heads of States in WSIS Conference in Geneva 2003.

The Wise Africa Process has started already 2004 during the “From Local to Global conferences” held in Finland and Namibia. Preparatory work is now ready and implementation has started. The process continues several years.

The campaign has already produced an extensive training package: there are five learning books ready; for leaders, for teachers, for adults, for children and for local authorities. Each of these books are including additional multimedia package of slides, charts and tables of information. We have training curricula ready for each of these target groups and anxious group of trainers are just waiting to Go.

All of the trainees will be served via open source systems and will get an open source program and access to Internet as part of training. We believe in sharing, it is needed because of limited resources as real way to get Africa connected, but also just because that is the whole idea of Information Society. Skill of sharing is also the strength of Africa when it is competing with rich counties of personal need and greed.

Wise Africa is fun learning by everybody’s own speed. You can learn with us. You practice learning by doing with us. You can use computer and go to the Internet with us. You can get help and work the speed you like.

Trainees will learn to use the Computer, to write with computer, to search for new information, to send and read e-mail. You will learn to use Internet systems and how they help you in every day life. In the end you get skills to get work.

Wise Africa VISION:

1.Give all citizens equal access and skills to use and benefit of Information Society services and communication systems.

2.Create a wide enough client base for e-governance services and e-commerce.

Wise Africa STRATEGY:

- WIDE PARTNERSHIP BASED TRAINING CAMPAIGN WITH GOALS ON WIDENING SKILLS OF ADULTS BY THE CHALLENCE OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH.

- EASY TO LEARN SYSTEMS AS EXAMPLES OF DAILY LIFE AND POSSIBILITY TO CONTINIOUS INTERNET ACCESS IN COMMUNITY CENTRES COORDINATED TO MULTISERVICES AND SHARED ACCESS.

- TARGETED GOALS FROM VISION 2030 POLICIES TO IMPROVE ICT- AND PARTNERSHIP (NETWORKING) SKILLS, JOB CREATION AND POVERTY REDUCTION AS WELL AS HIV-AIDS AWARNESS, WOMENS EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER EQUITY TO BE PROMOTED AS PART OF TRAINING RESULTS.

Wise Africa IMPLEMENTATION

- TRAIN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ADULTS FOR BASIC INFORMATION SOCIETY SKILLS.

- TRAIN TEACHERS FOR ELEARNING POSSIBILITIES AND BASIC IT SKILLS.

- START A SEPARATE SME TRAINING AND START UP ENTERPRISE TRAINING .

- ESTABLISH ICT BASED E-COMMUNITY CENTERS, SCHOOL CENTRES AND E-OFFICE -INTERNET ACCESS POINTS IN TOWNS AND RURAL AREAS WITH E-GOVERNANCE SERVICES .

- START THOUSANDS OF POSITIVE COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND NETWORKS AMONG LEARNERS.

- USEFUL ACCESS TO INTERNET, WORKING TOOLS AND NETWORKING SKILLS VIA AFRICAN DIGILTAL COMMUNITY NETWORK FOR PEOPLE AND THEIR ORGANISATIONS