[ecrea] Call for Papers: The Future of Mobile ICT and New Media in Africa - 3rd CMI/GTUC international conference

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Please consider to contribute to and/or forward to the appropriate 
groups the following opportunity to submit and publish original 
scientific results on Mobile ICT and New Media in Africa.



The submission deadline for abstracts is March 14, 2014.



Selected papers will be published in a special edition of Nordic- and 
Baltic Journal of ICT.



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Mobile and fixed communication networks and services have been advancing 
at a fast pace in Africa and is increasingly used as technology 
platforms for meeting challenges in other fields such as health, 
education, banking, etc. New media have also emerged in the process. 
Today there is a shift from conventional TV and radio delivery of media 
content to the internet. Though a decade of innovative public sector 
reforms in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and media 
sectors of sub-Saharan Africa has brought enormous developments and 
prospects, there’s room for further development.

Most of the African economies have also been expanding over the same 
period, which implies that the consumer base is still expanding, and 
there are enormous opportunities for the media, mobile and internet 
sub-sectors.

The mobile markets in the sub-Saharan Africa are very competitive with a 
multiplicity of network operators in each country. Investors from across 
the world are keeping a watch over the events in the sub-region as new 
and innovative service offerings are being rolled out year after year. 
The story isn’t different in the media sector.

Africa is the second most populous region of the world with over 1 
billion inhabitants. Though there has been tremendous growth rates for 
mobile communications, coupled with some fiber optic cables being laid, 
market penetration rates for fixed telephony, mobile communications and 
broadband internet remain relatively low. In the media, most media 
houses in Africa are yet to harness the full potential of new media 
enabled by ICT.

Real digital opportunities for deployment and utilization in areas such 
as e-learning, e-health and e-governance, etc. are presented to promote 
higher literacy, healthy, and well informed societies. It is, therefore, 
imperative that sub-Saharan Africa positions itself to participate and 
utilize the ever-evolving opportunities in health delivery, e-learning 
endeavors, e-commerce, e-governance, new media etc.

The conference on ‘The Future of Mobile ICT and New Media in Africa’ 
examines these issues regarding the development of mobile ICT and media 
– markets, regulations, business strategies – as well as issues relating 
to the use of mobile communications for economic, social, and human 
development.
Participants will come from academia, business, and policy and 
regulation. The idea is to benefit from input from speakers and 
participants from Africa as well as Europe and elsewhere. There is a 
need for Africa to partner and establish cooperation with their 
counterparts in the areas of research and development, deployment and 
operations, consultancies and education, as well as learning best practices.
Conference Objectives

The main objectives of this conference are:

* To discuss the developments of mobile communications and media with 
respect to market developments, policies and regulation, and business 
potentials and strategies;
* To highlight the current challenges encountered in the uptake of new 
media platforms in Africa;
* To examine the need for and use of ICT by educators, health care 
workers, government officials, business men, researchers, etc. in the 
sub-region;
* To explore ways in which technologies are used and assessed in diverse 
fields of education, health care, governance, businesses, social 
networks, banking & finance;
* To assess recent methods that enhance access to mobile communications, 
education, health services, government services, business services such 
as distance education, computer-based communication methods, 
telemedicine, e-commerce, face booking, etc.;

Who Should Attend

Faculty, Teachers, Researchers, Policy makers and Regulators, Health 
practitioners, Business professionals, ICT practitioners, Instructional 
designers, Media specialists and producers, Distance learning directors, 
Technology & Service providers.
Topics will include – but not limited to the following:

* Mobile communications
* Mobile broadband
* Information Systems
* Role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
* Application of Information Systems in government and businesses
* Age and gender issues in the use of Information Systems
* Digital library, distance learning, e-learning systems & technologies
* E-health & e-governance
* Databases, storage & retrieval systems (e.g. Cloud Computing)
* Cyber-security – governance, risk & compliance (GRC), cyber-crime.
* E-commerce & e-banking in developing economies
* Social media & social networks
* Social engineering challenges and counter measures
* ICT policy & regulatory environment.
* Media policy & regulatory environment

Important Dates:

* Deadline for Abstracts: March 14 , 2014.
* Notification of Acceptance: March 21 2014.
* Deadline for Full Papers: May 12, 2014.

Submit your abstract / paper to:

(cmi /at/ cmi.aau.dk)



More information will be posted on the conference website at 
http://conf.cmi.aau.dk/
Organizing committee:

Ezer Yeboah-Boateng, GTUC, (ezer /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Osei Darkwa, GTUC, (odarkwa /at/ gtuc.edu.gh)
Isa Abdullahi, CMI, (abdullah /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Idongesit Williams, CMI, (idong /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Reza Tadayoni, CMI, (reza /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Anders Henten, CMI, (henten /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Morten Falch, CMI, (falch /at/ cmi.aau.dk)
Knud Erik Skouby, CMI, (skouby /at/ cmi.aau.dk)



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