IST-Africa Support to Africa-EU Strategic Partnership
IST-Africa has actively supported Information Society, ICT and Innovation Aspects of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership since the Africa-EU Summit (Lisbon, December 2007).
IST-Africa has facilitated contributions from Ministries and National Councils responsible for Information Society, ICT and Innovation in eighteen African Member States by gathering intelligence on current initiatives and national priorities, hosting Joint Expert Group (JEG8) meetings and contributing at European and Joint Expert Group meetings (EEG8, JEG8) in Brussels, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Gaborone, Hammamat and Helsinki.
Information Society, ICT and Innovation aspects of the Africa - EU Strategic Partnership are discussed during interactive High Level Plenary Roundtables at the Annual IST-Africa Conference. IST-Africa hosted JEG8 Implementation meetings during IST-Africa 2010 (Durban), IST-Africa 2011 (in Gaborone) and IST-Africa 2012 (Dar es Salaam) to ensure that the maximum number of African and European experts could contribute.
IST-Africa's contributions to these deliberations and decision making processes included sharing interim results from IST-Africa surveys on ICT Research Initiatives and Research Capacity and Bilateral Cooperation.
IST-Africa has also raised wider awareness of the Africa - EU Strategic Partnership through contributions at key international events such as the annual Africa-Ireland Economic Forum.
IST-Africa actively promotes cooperation and greater coordination between stakeholders supporting Information Society, ICT and Innovation in Africa, and informs European and African governments of projects already funded through bilateral cooperation to identify opportunities for adaptation and replication to achieve wider regional impact.
IST-Africa founded the IST-Africa Living Labs Thematic Working Group , which has held annual meetings with up to 100 participants from Europe and Africa since 2010. The inaugural Thematic Working Group Meeting in Gaborone lead directly to the establishment of the EU - AUC Living Labs Taskforce for Africa.
IST-Africa has taken a leadership position in promoting Collaborative Open Innovation, Living labs and Entrepreneurship in Africa through regular national Living Labs Workshops across the Continent.