Friedman will deliver a talk and play a lead role in a meeting at which nine Southern African countries will consider how to utilize information and communications technologies to help in the combat of HIV/AIDS and to promote the development of civil society.

The participating nations are Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) for development in complementing government efforts to expand service delivery in the region underscores the need for a careful analysis of the link between policy and available infrastructure to provide a sustainable platform for expansion of ICT use before embarking on ambitious ICT investments," reads the mission statement of the conference. "Although efforts have been made in recent years to expand the use of e-governance in the region, the pace of progress has generally been slow, reflecting partly the fact that several countries in the region do not have adequate infrastructure, policy framework and human and institutional capacity to support the increased use of ICT. "SACI's recent study on 'e-governance platform for enhanced service delivery' was driven by this realization and its awareness that ICT is an important tool with multiple enabling capabilities when properly used," the statement continues. "The workshop on e-governance for enhanced service delivery in the context of a capacity development framework provides a forum for policymakers, researchers, and academics to examine the relationship between governance and utilization of ICT for development and enhanced service delivery in countries in the r
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Contact: Patrick A. Berzinski
pberzins@stevens.edu
201-216-5687
Stevens Institute of Technology
28-Mar-2006