Abstract

IDRC's Acacia (Communities and the Information Society in Africa) program is hosting a conference in October 2009. The objective of the conference is to carry out a detailed mid-term exploration with partners on the themes outlined in the current Acacia Prospectus (2006-2011). The Conference will be structured around the three pillars of the Acacia program: people empowerment, social service delivery and economic opportunity. These three themes will be further broken down into sub-themes. Included under the theme of people empowerment will be gender research, digital commons and localization. Under social service delivery will be education networking, local governance, health, and new learning environments and practices. And, under economic opportunity, will be social and economic development, infrastructure (policy and indicators) and small-scale agriculture. The process portion of the conference will focus on sustained policy dialogue, thriving research networks, enhanced research capacity and innovation. IDRC partners will be asked to lead workshops and set up displays on their work. The conference will allow Acacia to analyze the work that has been accomplished so far, build on areas of success and strengthen areas of weakness.

Recipient Institution(s)