South Africa: National Civil Society ICT Roundtable
The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) are convening a national ICT roundtable event for civil society organisations to be held on 9 September 2004 in Johannesburg. The event will focus on the Second National Operator (SNO), which will be licensed on 17 September 2004, as well as the fourth draft of the ICT Empowerment Charter. For more information or to register for the event, visit:
NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ICT ROUNDTABLE
"What is our stake in the multi-billion rand South African IT & communications industry?"
9 September 2004 Johannesburg
The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) are convening a national ICT roundtable event for civil society organisations to be held on 9 September 2004 in Johannesburg.
The event will focus on the long-awaited Second National Operator (SNO), which will be licensed on 17 September 2004, as well as the fourth draft of the ICT Empowerment Charter, which was released last week. Public comments on the charter must be submitted to the Charter Working Group before 15 September 2004.
Both the SNO and ICT Empowerment Charter present civil society with unique challenges and opportunities to ensure that all South Africans share in the benefits of these important developments. Our failure to act in this regard will only result in the continuation of current access, cost and ownership trends, and not in the desired transformation of South African society and the IT industry.
The forthcoming event will therefore provide participants with an opportunity to gain insight into the focus and scope of both developments, as well as to raise specific issues and expectations which will be collated and presented to the appropriate authorities after the meeting.
The roundtable will be held on Thursday, 9 September 2004 (10h00-15h30), at the School for Public and Development Management, Wits University in Parktown (1st Floor, Donald Gordon Building, cnr St Andrews and St Davids, Parktown).
A map of the venue is available on request.
If you have something to contribute and/or want to learn more about the SNO or ICT Empowerment Charter, please attend this important event.
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If you cannot attend the event, we are still interested in your views.
Please e-mail or fax us your comments by 10 September 2004.
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Information on the SNO and ICT Empowerment Charter is available at http://www.itweb.co.za and http://www.ictcharter.org.za.
To register for the event or submit written comments, please contact:
Sandra Roberts SANGONeT Tel: (011) 403-4935 Fax: (011) 403-0130 E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.sangonet.org.za