Hosted by the Government of Tanzania through the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission and Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE, IST-Africa 2012 will take place from 09 - 11 May 2012 in Dar es Salaam.

Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2011 is the seventh 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 2012 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 09 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 11 May will focus on Initiatives Supporting Development of Regional Science, Technology and Innovation.

The Scientific Programme for IST-Africa 2012 is based on an open Call for Papers which closed in late November 2011.

The Advance Programme consists of two plenary sessions and 40 parallel sessions featuring over 140 presenters from government, commercial and research organisations in 39 countries (Europe - 19 countries; Africa - 18 countries; Other Countries - 2).

Authors will have access to the detailed feedback reports on 01 February.

Accepted authors should submit the final paper online via their My Page by 29 February and complete payment registration by 09 March.

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).