Hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science and Technology and Supported by the European Commission, IST-Africa 2010 will take place in Durban, 19 - 21 May 2010.

Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2010 is the fifth 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 2010 is supported by the Department of Science and Technology and the European Commission and Technically Co-Sponsored by the IEEE South Africa Computer Chapter and the Computer Society of South Africa. Major Sponsors include South Africa - Finland Knowledge Partnership on ICT project (SAFIPA) and NOKIA.

IST-Africa 2010 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 19 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 21 May will focus on Initiatives Supporting Development of Regional S&T.

Online payment registration is open with Presenter registration due by 05 March and Early Bird registration available up to 12 March 2010. The Call for Exhibitors is open with a deadline of 26 February.

The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2010 is based on an open Call for Papers which closed in late November 2009. The Advance Programme consists of two plenary sessions and 40 parallel sessions featuring over 130 presenters from government, commercial and research organisations in 39 countries (18 European countries, 18 African countries, 4 Others). Accepted authors should submit their final papers online by 19 February and complete payment registration by 05 March.

Confirmed plenary speakers to date include:

- Hon. Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, South Africa

- Hon. Prof. Hany Helal, Minister of Higher Education and State for Scientific Research, Egypt (AMCOST Chair)

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

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

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

- Mohamed Ben Amor, Director General, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche des Télécommunications (CERT), Tunisia, Co-chair Joint Expert Group for 8th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (JEG8)

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

- Jussi Hinkkanen, Head of Government Affairs, Nokia Middle East and Africa

- Ms. Helena Tapper, Counsellor for Information Society for Development, Science and Technology, Embassy of Finland, South Africa

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

IST-Africa 2010 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 opened in late January and closes on 26 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).