"While ICT cannot address all of [Africa's] problems, they can do much to place Africa on a firmer industrial footing... and strengthen the continent's human resources, with training that leads to sustainable livelihoods." Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General (20.11.2002)

Supported by the European Commission under FP6 and FP7, IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) is a multi-stakeholder Initiative focused on:

- Supporting JEG8 Activities & Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership

- Skills Transfer to Support Research Capacity Building & STI Development in Africa

- Community building to support EU-African Research Cooperation

IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) 2012 - 2013 is a collaborative Initiative between IIMC Ltd (Ireland, Coordinator), Department of Science and Technology (South Africa), Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology (Botswana), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Lesotho), Ministry of Education (Namibia), ICT Policy Implementation Technical Unit (Mozambique), National Computer Board (Mauritius), Ministry of Communications and Transport (Zambia), Ministry of Information Communication Technology (Swaziland), National Commission for Science and Technology (Malawi), COSTECH - Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kenya), Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Burundi), Ministry of Science and Technology (Ethiopia), Agence Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (Cameroon), Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur, des Universités et des Centres Universitaires Régionaux et de la Recherche Scientifique (Senegal), Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (Ghana), Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Tunisia) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Egypt). IST-Africa 2012 - 2013 is supported by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

During 2012 - 2013, IST-Africa is focused on supporting the Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society & Space; strengthening the research dimension of Information Society policy dialogues between the European Commission and African countries and key regional organisations; analysis of African ICT research priorities, including long term perspectives aligned with EU priorities and recommendations for future Africa - EU co-operation initiatives, including identification of matching counterpart funding and raising wider awareness of African research capacity, promoting participation of African organizations in the ICT Theme of FP7 and Horizon 2020 and identifying co-operation opportunities in fields of mutual interest. The goal is to increase visibility of mutual RTD potential and network relevant European and African stakeholders. The Annual IST-Africa Conference provides an opportunity to showcase relevant research capacity. IST-Africa 2012 (09 - 11 May) is hosted by the Government of Tanzania.

The Work Programme for FP7-ICT for 2011 - 2012 is published. ICT Call 9 was published on 18 January 2012 with a closing date of 17 April 2012 (17:00 CET).

IST-Africa has prepared a Guide to FP7 to assist organisations looking at the Framework Programme 7 for the first time. This Guide provides an overview of FP7, how to go about identifying relevant research areas, open Action Lines, how to prepare a budget and Frequently Asked Questions.

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.

The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2012 is based on an open Call for Papers which closed on 30 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). Accepted authors should submit the final paper online via their My Page by 29 February and complete payment registration by 09 March.

IST-Africa organised a full day workshop on Living Labs in cooperation with the Living Labs in Southern Africa (LLiSA) and European Network of Living Labs (EnoLL) as a pre-conference workshop on Tuesday 10 May 2011. This resulted in the establishment of a Task Force to develop an implementation plan for Living Labs in Africa. IST-Africa has subsequently held Living Lab Workshops in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia and Swaziland.

IST-Africa and LLiSA have authored a White Paper entitled Supporting the Evolution of Sustainable Living Labs and Living Labs Networks in Africa which is has been available for public consultation since September 2011

We would like to thank the stakeholders who have contributed additional case studies and material for inclusion to date in this report. Version 1.8 which includes the contributions received during the initial public consultation, additional case studies provided by Task Force Members and IST-Africa partners and the results from the IST-Africa Living Lab Validation Workshops in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda Please continue to provide contributions and case studies to secretariat@IST-Africa.org - the updated report will be published in February.

IST-Africa Training Workshops in November were hosted by the National Commission for Science and Technology (Malawi) in Lilongwe on 17 - 18 November, Ministry of Communications and Transport (Zambia) in Lusaka on 21 - 22 November, Ministry of Science and Technology (Ethiopia) in Addis Ababa on 24 November and Ministry of ICT (Swaziland) in Mbabane on 28 - 29 November. in cooperation with IIMC. These workshops focused on FP7-ICT-Call 8 - 9 Calls for Proposals, provided an Introduction to Living Labs and continued the public consultation in relation to the Living Labs White Paper by identifying national priorities.

IST-Africa is contributing to a number of sessions during the EuroAfrica-ICT Forum in Cape Town on 14 - 15 November 2011. The results from the Living Labs White Paper and validation workshops organised by IST-Africa in cooperation with Living Labs in Southern Africa Network (LLiSA) will be presented by Prof Marlien Herselman during the Africa-EU Cooperation on Open Living Labs: Status & Perspectives Session.

The IST-Africa Consortium presented Living Lab Case Studies from Southern Africa, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda and research and ICT capacity from Mauritius, Mozambique, Lesotho, Kenya, Senegal and Cameroon during the eChallenges e2011 Conference in Florence on 26 October. This was complimented by a dissemination stand in the Exhibition.

The Opening Plenary of IST-Africa 2011 focused on a roundtable around the achievements and way forward for the Information Society Priority. The 1st Meeting of the Information Society Implementation Group under the Action Plan 2011 - 2013 was co-located with IST-Africa 2011, 11 - 13 May 2011, Gaborone, Botswana. The presentations can be downloaded

An overview of the achievements of the Partnership 8 Information Society priority with a summary of 2nd Action plan can also be downloaded