Namibian Minister of Information and Broadcasting officially opened it@ab conference in Windhoek .

In his opening speech the minister emphasised that “Collaboration in this crucial sector of Information and Communication Technology will play a very significant and catalytic role in the full realization of the bigger SADC dream”.

He stressed that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is today the "life blood of any real and sustainable economic development in any country".

The minister warned that if the digital divide is left unchecked, the powerful digital communications tools that exist in the world today will only serve to further entrench historic divides in the society.

Since ICT organizations are in general particularly good at analyzing and articulating systems and processes the minister came to the result that Organisations like IT@AB need to collaborate more closely with the public sector and assist in clearly identifying forward and backward linkages in the nations value chains, re-engineering them into self and self regenerating processes.

The minister waned that too often in the past the ICT solutions deployed were developed overseas without sufficient understanding of the unique conditions of Africa. it@ab should therfore address this gap and develop solutions that address our unique challenges. These challenges in Namibia include vast distances and sparse populations, limited education and poverty."

read the whole speach... here

Vice Chancellor of Namibian University Prof.Lazarus Hangula emphasizes the importance of ICT in education

In his keynote speach Prof.Hangula, Vice president of UNAM emphazises the importance of ICT in education. He explained that UNAM is dedicated to collaborating with organizations like IT@AB to bring about the infusion of ICT into all aspects of the society so that such infusion can become the vehicle for effective delivery of education.

read the whole speech.... here

Managing Director of Telecom Namibia, Mr. Frans J.P. Ndoroma, sees in Knowledge networks an imperative if Africa is to sustainably participate in the digital economy.

In his keynote Mr Frans J.P. Ndoroma, highlighted the importance of knowledge networks for business devleopment. Ndorama sees Knowledge networks as an imperative if Africa is to sustainably participate in the digital economy.

reed the whole speech...here