ARISE web site

ARISE:
African Research for Information Society Emergence

The ARISE project is in the process of building a database of African professionals, researchers and activists concerned with the social issues involved in building the Information Society in Africa. The project objectives are to:

Create a directory of all researchers, academics, consultants, activists and others active in research around social issues of developing the Information Society in Africa. This will include individuals, organisations and initiatives. This will be made available on the web;

Develop a network of African professionals to discuss the key issues in building the Information Society in Africa, to produce an African Research Agenda for the Information Society.

For Africa to create an Information Society to support all Africans it is crucial that Africa develops its own answer to the problems it faces, rather than simply importing ideas from other countries. Appropriate use of ICT comes through local adaptive learning to find uses for the technology that meets real local needs. There is a great deal of expertise already in Africa, though often not recognised or known by others in the continent. Sharing of experience and skills is an important component of building capacity to shape the Information Society in a truly African image.

This project aims to produce a database and network of all Africans with skills and expertise in social aspects of the Information Society. The fields include economics, development work, policy analysis, gender studies, sociologists, law, indigenous knowledge, linguistics, education, health and more.

This project is funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre and will run through December 2002.

For more information contact:

or visit www.ariseafrica.org