1. General Background:
Local Digital Agenda
OpenCityPortal
Delta Nigeria, November 2008

2. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

3. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

4. 1. Local Digital Agenda
The Local Digital Agenda (LDA) is a Strategic Plan for the Development of the
Information Society in a given city or region
Designed to promote the Information Society taking into account socio-economic
and cultural backgrounds in particular, and based on the involvement of citizens
and social actors, ultimately promoting sustainable development.
In order to develop and implement a LDA, it is necessary to have:
• Political will and leadership
• Supporting tools and resources, both economic and technical

5. 1. Local Digital Agenda
• Improvement of local government, communication and citizen
involvement.
• Fully development of the endogenous potential to create wealth and
employment: the Information Society has an enormous bearing on economic
growth and social cohesion.
• Improvement of the quality of life for local citizens.
Main advantages of designing and implementing a LDA are:
Its design and development will be similar to any Sector Strategic Plan,
coordinated with and integrated into the city or region´s Global Strategic Plan.

6. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

7. 2. Why ICT should be developed
Behind such initiatives there is an increasing recognition that ICT is the key to:
• promote knowledge-based growth
• job creation
• provide access to information and knowledge
Access to information and knowledge can stimulate economic growth by creating
new products, increasing productivity and promoting new commercial and
administrative methods.
Recently many countries have published national ICT development strategies.
In addition to economic development, connection to ICT fosters social
development, cohesion and inclusion through its applications in education,
health and increased citizen participation in civil society and government.

8. 2.1 Instruments for ICT development
The following instruments and mechanisms are essential to successful
development:
• An efficient and transparent regulatory framework
• Creation of a broad range of ICT-enabled businesses
• A conducive environment for innovation
• Financial and social infrastructure to support entrepreneurship.
In essence, ICT is not an objective but a tool for creating a dynamic, innovative
and upgraded business environment and knowledge economy.
National ICT strategy is a framework to formulate a country's approach to the
revision of the policy and business environment in order to achieve a dynamic
innovative knowledge-based society

9. A successful national ICT strategy must be comprehensive and focus on several
strategic areas depending on an individual country's situation.
2.2 ICT strategy keypoints
The strategy process
should be inclusive and
involve all stakeholders.
The process also needs
high-level political
leadership and
commitment.
The strategy process
should start with an
assessment of the
current policy reform
stage and identify the
next steps for policy
reform.
Effective strategy should
focus on the most
important bottlenecks
and provide a
systematic solution for
all issues.
The solutions should
promote as much
private sector
participation as
possible, based on
sustainable business
models.
Solutions should involve
scaling up, capacity
building and institution
building.

10. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

11. 3. ICT development strategy
It is necessary to have comprehensive programmes to address the following five
strategic areas in an integrated ICT development strategy.
Liberalised environment and a supportive regulatory framework
ICT businesses emerge only if innovative ideas are allowed to be commercialised.
Regulatory frameworks promote and support a liberalised environment in order
to allow innovative private sector firms to enter the market and help expand
telecommunications infrastructure.
A supportive regulatory framework is needed to enhance competition through
liberalisation, introduction of an independent regulator and privatisation of the
state-owned telecommunications operator.
It is essential that the benefit of ICT is shared by all citizens. Access to
communications infrastructure, including telephones and internet connections,
should be given to all people, not only middle-to-high-income people who live in
urban areas, but also to people who live in rural areas and poor communities.
Achieving universal access

12. 3. ICT development strategy
ICT strategy can gain support of the government and citizens only if it can create
a broad range of job opportunities.
Creation of community and government information sites should be encouraged.
Content industries, including e-learning, e-health and e-commerce should be
developed to provide relevant information and transaction opportunities to
match the local people's needs and to provide access to international markets
for local products and services.
Creating jobs through ICT-enabled businesses
Innovation and entrepreneurship support
Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial to the development of knowledge-
based growth. To develop various ICT-related industries, it is vital to have a broad
education programme to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
A systematic mechanism to encourage and support entrepreneurs in introducing
innovative technologies should be promoted.

13. 3. ICT development strategy
To develop ICT in transition economies, it is essential to encourage entrepreneurs
to utilise ICT for socially beneficial purposes.
There are a growing number of entrepreneurs and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) working in various sectors using ICT in transition countries.
These individuals and organisations are finding innovative ways to bring about
change in the social process while, at the same time, ensuring the sustainability
of their operations.
Supporting entrepreneurs

14. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

15. 4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
ICT strategies will cover a number of sectors that need to be targeted by specific
policies.
Primarily related to the
information society
Primarily related to the
information economy
Education and health
Industry sectors, trade,
investment and finance
Providing services to
both the private and
public sectors
Government
Sectors related to information society and information economy

16. 4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
Cross-cutting policies will affect all of the described sectors. They include policies
related to telecommunications infrastructure, research and technology
development, awareness creation, information technology (IT) training and
literacy, legal and regulatory issues and measurement and monitoring.
E-business policies (including e-commerce policies) will particularly affect the
economic sectors. They include policies related to the business and economic
environment, enterprise development (especially promotion of small and
medium-size enterprises, or SMEs) and development of the ICT industry.
E-society and e-government policies include areas such as health, education,
culture and the media, as well as government services and customs.
Cross-cutting policies
E-business policies
E-society and e-government policies

17. 4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
One cross-cutting issue relevant for countries at all levels of development is that
of gender imbalances related to the digital economy.
In many countries, women make up the majority of the rural population, which is
often marginalized in terms of telecommunications infrastructure, education and
training.
Therefore, it is important to mainstream gender in all areas of national ICT
strategies, and a number of international initiatives have been launched to that
effect.
Gender issue as cross-cutting at all levels

18. Contents
2. Why ICT should be developed
1. Local Digital Agenda
3. ICT development strategy
4. Policy areas ICT Strategy should cover
5 Experience of African Countries
2.1 Instruments for ICT development
2.2 ICT strategy key points
5.1 South African example
5.2 Other African examples
5.3 Nigerian experience
5.4 Conclusion

19. 5. Experience of African Countries
Africa is already starting to deliver technology innovations that can have impact
worldwide.
For example, in Kenya, a new digital payment system allows users to transfer
money across mobile phones with minimal cost using text messaging.
Similar innovations in technology have the potential to scale across a variety of
development areas in Africa: enabling teachers and students to access quality
educational materials with the simplest digital technology, or linking people with
limited access to health care to world-class treatment from doctors on the other
side of the world., etc.
The possibilities and challenges currently present in Africa are immense.

20. 5.1 South African example
In South Africa, the Parliament employs various ICT tools to communicate with
the public, including community radio, broadcasts of daily televised debates of
the National Assembly and roundtables.
The Parliamentary Monitoring Group, a non-profit organisation, maintains a
useful website where information on upcoming public hearings and
parliamentary committee reports can be found.
South Africa’s constitution places particular importance on access to public
information and the participation of citizens in domestic politics.
Participation and interaction with the citizens is very important to every policy
making process, and their opinions should be taken into account.

21. 5.2 Other African examples
Small private telecentres have become very common in urban areas of many
African countries.
Universities and school have also established telecentres meant to provide access
to students, but some of them also provide access to the general public.
Some members of the international development community and some national
governments have also invested in telecentres, with the goal of providing access
in rural areas.
A key factor in facilitating the deployment of rural access points is the regulatory
environment.

22. 5.3 Nigerian experience
ICT in Nigeria had been growing at an exponential rate.
However Internet and other data related services still were lagging behind as a
result of a lack of infrastructure
Completely dependent on International access for local connectivity and hosting
resulting in wastages and duplication
• Set up a structure that would enable local traffic to remain local
• Provide world class facilities to enable the hosting industry to evolve and flourish.
• Eliminate duplication and proliferation of networks owned by the government
• Increase security
• Bridge the Digital Divide
Galaxy Backbone
PLC was created to

23. 5.4 Conclusion
But it’s important to remember that
technology is only a tool that can help to
realize this growth.
To translate innovation into tangible progress will, take the cooperation and
commitment of parties across the public and private sector, investing together
in education, local business development, and other initiatives that can drive
positive social and economic change.
Initiatives like these represent a
new wave of technological
progress that can speed
technology adoption across all of
Africa and have a significant
impact on African development.
The level of interest in adopting ICT
solutions like these to address
Africa’s critical development
challenges and the associated
optimism for how this can positively
impact economic growth is high.