- The second pan-African conference on ICT for development, education and training is scheduled to take place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from 28 to 30 May year. It is expected to be graced by over 1,200 delegates from 81 countries around the world.
Organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif in collaboration with the Kenyan government, the annual conference focuses on ICT for development, education and training in Africa. It has forged a dynamic network of stakeholders and now links decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation.
About 832 participants from 80 countries attended the maiden conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The pan-African event will be organised by Rebecca Stromeyer, eLearning Africa Project Manager in collaboration with Hoffmann & Reif and Kenyan Ministry of Education.
"So far, just over 1,000 participants from 81 countries have already registered for the conference. We are very pleased to announce that the second eLearning Africa conference has not only grown considerably in numbers but also is once again a truly African event, with more than seventy percent of the attendees coming from the African continent," Rebecca Stromeyer, the Project Manager and Director of ICWE said in a statement.
As the host nation, Kenya is expected to host the largest number of participants. Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda followed suit. United Kingdom will send Europe’s largest contingent. Canada and the United States will also be represented well.
ICT-supported education, which is a core component of the development plans of most African governments, will be the main focus of the conference. Many countries have integrated ICTs in their educational systems in order to reach the Millennium Goals of achieving education for all.
Special emphasis will also be laid on e-learning in medical education and the fight against HIV and AIDS, mobile learning, open source and open content, as well as eLearning in schools, higher education institutions, and in the public sector.
Several African universities, including the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, the African Virtual University, University of Zimbabwe, Tumaini University, Tanzania, and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
A total of 308 speakers from 55 countries including representatives from major development organisations such as UNESCO, UNEVOC, the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), and the World Bank are expected grace the occasion. National and government institutions from Africa, Asia, and North America, have also been billed to speak.
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