Organised by PCMLP, the Centre for Global Communications Studies, University of Pennsylvania and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT), Strathmore University Law School
Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have developed very distinctive approaches to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for governance and peace-building. While the Ethiopian government has sought to capture and monopolize ICTs to support its political agenda, increasing service delivery but minimizing political dissent, in Somalia ICTs and innovation have thrived even in the absence of a central government with multiple internet and telecommunications providers competing to offer access at some of the cheapest prices on the continent. Kenya has emerged as Africa’s innovation hub, but has also faced significant challenges as it has sought to implement extraordinarily ambitious projects, as most recently seen during the 2013 elections when the voting tallying system failed, risking to spark tensions across the country.
On 25-26 April scholars from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), Strathmore University (Kenya), Simad University (Somalia), CIPESA (Uganda), University of Pennsylvania (USA) and Oxford University (UK) will gather in Nairobi to examine the reasons behind the radically different approaches these three neighbors have developed towards ICTs and draw comparative lessons that can be extended to other countries in the continent. The workshop is part of a two-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on Eliciting and Applying Local Knowledge on Statebuilding and Peacebuilding in Africa.
Participants include: Abdikarim Mohaidin Ahmed, Simad University, Somalia; Abdi Aynte, Heritage Institute of Policy Studies, Somalia; Isaac Rutenberg, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT), Strathmore University Law School, Kenya; Douglas Gichuki, CIPIT; Christopher Ndungu, CIPIT; Nathan Tuimising, CIPIT; Zenebe Beyene, Addis Ababa University; Abdissa Zerai, Addis Ababa University; Ashnah Kalemera, CIPESA; Lillian Nalwoga, CIPESA; Wakabi Wairagala, CIPESA; Yikunnoamlak Mezgebu Zerabiruk & Gebeyehu Bekele Estifanose, Addis Ababa University; Lauren Kogen, University of Pennsylvania; Iginio Gagliardone, Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), University of Oxford; Nicole Stremlau, PCMLP.
Selected sessions will be open to students and other interested participants. For further information, please contact Iginio Gagliardone: iginio.gagliardone@csls.ox.ac.uk.