African ICT leaders and scholars head to Kampala for the ICT for Africa 2012 Conference

Long considered a technological laggard, Africa’s rapid uptake of Information and Telecommunication Technologies (ICTs) has highlighted the massive role the continent will play in the global digital revolution.

The dissemination of mobile phones has entrenched the continent as an emerging market with enormous potential for growth, while the innovations seen in e-banking, e-business, telemedicine and e-learning indicate a level of skill that is comparable to that seen in the developed world.

The ICT for Africa conference harnesses the knowledge of ICT experts and academics while generating new insight through the exchange of ideas and sharing of innovations. Hosted by the prestigious Makerere University Business School and sponsored by the NSF, ICTID, the African Society for ICT, the ICT University (USA), PC Tech Magazine (International) and UNHRO, the 4th addition of the conference offers a fertile opportunity for cross-continental debate in ICT innovations.

The event offers a four day exposé of Africa’s role in powering developments in mobile telephony, cloud computing and service-oriented software. Africa’s potential for becoming a future powerhouse of ICT innovation will be examined in the context of green computing, which the conference prioritises as an ethical output of ICT growth.

The conference is chaired by specialists from regional and international universities, including Prof. Victor Mbarika (Southern University), Prof. V. Baryamureeba (Makerere University) and Prof. Waswa Balunywa (Makerere University Business School (MUBS), making it a vibrant platform for debate that is both local and international in scope.