More’s the pity because the second preparatory committee met in Geneva, 17-28 February 2003, and not a word or picture in the media. This session was important because a draft declaration was produced that is likely to guide debates from now on.
According to the WSIS website: “The second meeting of the Preparatory Committee for WSIS (PrepCom-2) gathered more than 1500 participants representing 146 member states and numerous international agencies, and business and civil society entities.”
African civil society organisations brought along an interesting publication, with the title “Our side of the divide: African perspectives on Information and Communication Technologies.” It’s a rich summarisation of the burning issues confronting Africa in the information age.
The publication was compiled by a partnership of organisations that seek African participation in the creation of an inclusive information society (amongst others Article 19, AMARC, MISA and SACOD). It’s interest lies in the fact that it takes the middle road between the Afro-pessimism that says Africa is forever cursed, and the romantic optimism that says ICTs can change the quality of life in Africa and deliver prosperity.
So, on the one hand, it highlights the negatives outdated analogue telecommunications infrastructures, low levels of connectivity, high costs of access, inequalities of access and lack of bandwidth, high costs of computer hardware and software, and nonexistent research and development capacity.
On the other hand, through well-illustrated personal and organisational stories, it demonstrates how ICTs have altered and in some cases revolutionised African lives. The stories cover family and social relationships, education, commerce, networking between civil society organisations, and the use of ICTs in elections for the exchange of political information between citizens. The publication also highlights the benefits that Africa can accrue by harnessing open source software to develop programmes and applications appropriate to an African context.
While conceding that the digital divide hangs over Africa like a Damocles sword, the publication also acknowledges the incremental progress that Africans are making which, in practical terms, can prevent total marginalisation of the continent. Further, the publication emphasises the importance of ensuring that ordinary Africans become participants and beneficiaries of the information society.
Finally, the publication has key charters, statements and declarations relating to information, media and communication produced by African organisations and institutions over the last 10 years. Taken together, these sum up Africa’s quest to be an equal partner in building the information society. The documents include the Charter on African Media and the Digital Divide, produced by participants from across Africa at the 6th annual Highway Africa Conference at Rhodes University in August 2002. In this respect, it shows that amongst African organisations there is no lack of initiatives and suggestions for policy frameworks. It is possible, it seems, to create an enabling environment for an African superhighway without potholes, hijackers and expensive toll gates.
Dr. Tawana Kupe is head of media studies at Wits University’s School of Literature and Language Studies.