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:UNITED' NAT'IONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
NATIONS UNI
COMMISSION ECONOMIQUIE ' POUR LtA RIQU I
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No. 5057 15 November 1996
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION DAY 19 NOVEMBER 1996,,_
The 19th of November is African Deyelopment Infotmatl0n Day.
In marking this day, the Economic Commission for Afri~~ u~~erlines the importance of information as a planning tool for development and for the exchange of ideas and experiences globally.
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On the 1996 celebration- 't h e fourth- of Develop~ent .~. '
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Information Day i t is appropriate to bear in mind the challenges
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that the information revolution poses for African countries. The twenty-second meeting of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa., adopted resolution 812 (XXXI),
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entitled 'Implementation of the African Information society Initiative' (AISI), as an action framework for building Africa's Information socie~y. The Initiative calls for building national information and communication infrastructure (NICI ) as well as cooperation, linkages and partnerships between African countries to share experiences and stimulate regional development in various ,i n f o rma t i o n and communication fields.
African countries need the ability to communicate effectively with local and overseas markets to determine where they may have comparative advantages for supplying their products to consumers to purchase essential imports, based on current prices and services.
The cost of entry into global markets is becoming virtually insignificant and exploiting the information economy consumes minimal resources ' other than the effort and ingenuity of its members.
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P.O. Box 3001 • For use of information media;not an official record
Addis Ababa • Ethiopia
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-" , ,' j ' . To participate fully in the information age, African countries
have to organise information for electronic access and -d i s s e mi n a t i o n , ranging from database building to World Wide Web
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information' access. The o'p p o r t u n i tIes for building a wealth of
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information sources could have a substantial positive impact on Africa, enabling African decision makers to make much more informed socio-economic planning decisions, making Africans producers of indigenous information and knowledge, and promoting Africa's cultural heritage. AlSI activities can help member states to build necessary , i n f r a s t r u c t u r e to participate successfully in the
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infor~a;t.ion age.
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ECA will be marking Development Information Day during meeting of its Standing Committee on the Harmonization Standardization of Information Systems in Af~ica, meeting 'at
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headquarters from 18 to 20 November 1996~
the and ECA
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