Hosted by the Government of the Republic of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT, Supported by the European Commission and Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE, IST-Africa 2009 will take place on the shores of Lake Victoria at Speke/Munyonyo Resort & Conference Centre Kampala 06 - 08 May 2009.

Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2009 is the fourth in an Annual Conference Series which brings together senior representatives from leading commercial, government & research organisations across Africa and from Europe, to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice and discussing policy related issues.

IST-Africa 2009 will focus on the Role of ICT for Africa's Development and specifically on Applied ICT research topics addressing major societal and economic challenges, which is part of the European Commission's Information Communications Technologies (ICT) Theme of FP7. The Conference Programme combines strategic keynote presentations, technical and policy papers, case studies, workshops, an exhibition and social activities.

IST-Africa directly supports the goals of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) and the Consolidated Plan of Action for the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE).

In the context of focusing on the Role of ICT for Africa's Development, the Opening Plenary on Wednesday 06 May will feature a high level dialogue on Implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space. The Closing Plenary on Friday 08 May will focus on Initiatives Supporting Development of Regional S&T.

Online payment registration is open.

A Special Scholarship fund for Ugandan researchers, SMEs and relevant NGOs working in the ICT Domain who have not completed registration to date is now open until Friday 24 April. Please complete and submit the form providing a clear overview of ICT-related activities being undertaken.

The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2009 is based on an open Call for Papers which closed in late November 2008. The Final Programme consists of two plenary sessions and 38 parallel sessions featuring over 170 presenters from government, commercial and research organisations in 36 countries (20 European countries, 14 African countries, Canada and US).

IST-Africa 2009 will be officially opened by His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda

Other Confirmed Keynote speakers to date include:

- Hon. Aggrey Awori, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Uganda

- Mrs. Lenka Ptácková Melicharová, Deputy Minister of Interior (EU Affairs), Czech Republic (EU Presidency)

- Hon. Dr. Sally Kosgey, Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya (AMCOST Chair)

- Hon. Dr. Ir Saidi Kibeya, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Burundi

- Hon. Prof. Peter Msolla, Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, Tanzania

- Hon. Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Botswana

- Hon. J.C. Alintuma Nsambu, Minister of State, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Uganda

- Mrs. Vera Brenda Ngosi, Director, HRST, African Union Commission, Ethiopia

- Mr Antti Peltomäki, Deputy Director-General, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, Belgium

- Dr. Phil Mjwara, Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa

- Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia

- Dr Ham-Mukasa Mulira, Senior Presidential Adviser on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Uganda

- Ambassador Vincent De Visscher, Head of the European Commission's Delegation to Uganda

- Dr. Philippe Mawoko, Programme Coordinator, African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) Initiative, NEPAD S&T

- Mr. Hans Piet, Ericsson Uganda

- Mr Francis Egbuson, Uganda Telecom

- Mr Ilari Lindy, Advisor, Information Society for Development, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

- Mr. Stijn van der Krogt, Director Country Programmes, International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), Netherland

- Ms. Karoline Beronius, SPIDER - The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions, Sweden

- Mr Thierry Devars, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, Belgium

IST-Africa 2009 will also feature an Exhibition that provides the opportunity to showcase research results and applications through technology demonstrations, whether funded commercially or at national, regional or European level. The Call for Exhibitors closed on 27 February.

Digital World Forum is organising a workshop on Wireless Access and Infrastructure, co-located with IST-Africa 2009 in Kampala on 04 - 05 May. Click here to view the workshop announcement.

The Faculty of Computing and IT, Makerere University is offering a site visit on Tuesday afternoon 05 May to view their state-of-the-art computing facility. Conference delegates who wish to participate in this site visit should indicate this as part of online conference registration. Pre-registration is required. Delegates will leave Speke Munyonyo (conference venue) at 15:30 and return by 18:30.

The goals of the IST-Africa Conference Series are Community Building to facilitate EU-African research cooperation and successful exploitation of research results, to stimulate take-up of RTD results by industry, Small and Medium Sized Businesses and the public sector, to promote knowledge sharing between commercial organizations, government agencies and the research community, to exchange experiences about the current state of eAdoption at a sectoral, national or regional level, support International Cooperation and open up the European Research Area (ERA) to Africa.

The IST-Africa Conference will provide a collegiate setting for presentations and discussions of national and regional developments, issues of concern and good practice models. It will also provide an excellent networking environment for delegates to discuss problems, share knowledge, obtain feedback, and learn more about opportunities to participate in ICT Calls under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).