SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS AMONG AFRICAN SITES PRIOR TO THE WORLD BANK'S VIDEO- CONFERENCE: “OPEN STANDARDS FOR GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION” 17TH APRIL 2009 Prepared by David Sawe (Tanzania)

1.What is the progress and key challenges for implementing open standards in government in your country? Progress: Is being made, but emerging from differing contexts in each country: Ghana: Draft e-Govt Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) document has been developed already *, and final e-GIF document to be available in a few months Kenya: Standards Committee and Bureau of Standards jointly working on it Rwanda: Bureau of Standards and Rwanda IT Authority jointly working on it Tanzania: e-Govt Strategy under National ICT Policy (2003) nearly complete Challenges: Are numerous and largely shared among all countries, notably:  Vendor biases towards the specific standards of their suppliers/partners  Vested interests among individuals within both public and private sector silos  Awareness of ICT and value of Open Standards (confused with Open Source)  Inadequate political will, commitment and strategic leadership for ICT  Procurement / budgetary systems need adapting to support open standards  Change-resistance among ICT professionals when introducing new standards  Deficient legal and regulatory environment for proper enforcement capability  Local ICT industry capability to delivery and sustain open standards  Poorly documented existing systems hampering potential interoperability  Low recognition of ICT personnel’s potential as strategic corporate resources 1. * : The draft e-GIF document can be found at

2.What should be the institutional structures for ensuring compliance to open standards and interoperability across government? Institutional structures are being formally established or reinforced in accordance with appropriate legal procedures. The intention is to clarify responsibilities and authority, ensure oversight, and empower them to enforce compliance across the Government, with support from the private sector and academia. So in response to this question, the countries are doing as follows: Ghana: Transforming the Ghana Information Communication and Technology Directorate (GICTed), Ministry of Communications, into the National IT Agency (NITA), which will be supplemented by the creation of an IT auditing agency Kenya: Building the capacity of institutions currently collaborating in this area Rwanda: The Rwanda IT Authority is already empowered tp address this area Tanzania: An e-Govt Agency is being fast-tracked in 2009 to address this area 2.

3.What mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that interoperability standards/frameworks are kept current in the context of rapid changes in technology? Ensure that existing working groups and consultative networks can interact more frequently with each other and with the relevant official institutional structures Gain membership of international standards’ bodies and participate consistently in their relevant activities and decision mechanisms (eg. OASIS, IEEE, W3C, ISO,...) Publish information and convene sensitisation workshops to inform the general public and members of working groups on the impact of emerging technologies, and the value of assuring interoperability by adherence to recognised standards Develop policy instruments to enforce compliance to interoperability standards throughout the public service, respecting also standards that are sector-specific Support and promote local research activities in areas concerning interoperability aiming, among other things, to reduce dependency on external expertise Schedule constant reviews with the aim of identifying new trends and exploring new possible areas for open standards’ development 3.

4.What arrangements should be put in place for connecting developing and transition countries with international standards bodies and leading public administrations in an era of cross-border interoperability? A number of desirable arrangements were cited, each relevant for all countries: Ensure compliance with appropriate international bodies working on issues of interoperability standards while signing related international conventions for cross-border information exchange Use the memberships of Regional and Sub-regional bodies (eg. the African Union, ECOWAS, EAC, SADC) to build a cross-border interoperability environment that is based on standards formally agreed upon among the member States, and aligned with those already enforced by global bodies Accelerate the formalising of envisaged policies and institutional structures that are to be focal points for international interactions on interoperability standards Create a virtual knowledge-bank on open standards where countries can share their knowledge, experience and exchange best practices in implementing open standards for interoperability 4.

With acknowledgements and sincere thanks to the facilitators and all of the participants in Accra, Nairobi, Kigali and Dar es Salaam. David Sawe