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 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 2008 was very successful, attracting over 460 delegates from Europe & Africa. Plenary speakers included Ministers of Science and Technology/ICT from Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, Director-Generals from DG Information Society and Media and DG Research of the European Commission and DST South Africa, Directors from the African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and SADC Secretariat. A high-level Round Table on the Implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space took place during the Opening Plenary session, which was highly successful. The Conference Report provides an overview of the findings of the conference.

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

The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2009 is based on an open Call for Papers The core thematic areas are eHealth, Technology Enhanced Learning and ICT Skills, Digital Libraries and Content, Open Source Software, ICT for eInclusion and eAccessibility, eInfrastructures, ICT for Environmental Sustainability, Networked Enterprise and eGovernment. Interested presenters are encouraged to prepare an 8 page paper (4,000 - 5,000) words following the IST-Africa 2009 paper guidelines and paper template for submission online by 28 November. For more information, click here

If individual authors need an extension beyond 28 Nov to complete their papers, please contact us to co-ordinate this

All submissions will be double blind reviewed by the International Programme Committee and authors will receive feedback in January. Accepted authors will then be invited to submit a final paper taking account of feedback provided for inclusion in the conference proceedings by end of February.

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 will open in late January and close on 28 February.

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).