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Background

East Africa pioneered e-mail systems in the subregion in 1990. These systems were rudimentary, yet effective, means of communication. But they required good technical and user support. This support focused on overcoming the difficulties of using unsympathetic software and interfaces while negotiating complicated modem and terminal configurations.

Full Internet service arrived in the subregion in 1995. It was part of a technical movement that saw lower connection and equipment costs and greater processing and communications capacity. More-intuitive user interfaces have allowed easier data exchange and reduced the technical problems of linking up to service providers.

Internet protocol has introduced many benefits to users. At the same time, the burgeoning sources of information and means of delivering it have created the need for new skills. The ability to manage the retrieval, storage, and dissemination of electronic networking resources is needed for playing a brokering role for systems users.

Two means of electronic communication remain:

• Discontinuous e-mail systems, which are primarily rural and carried by FidoNet, telephone connections, and high-frequency radio links; and

• Interactive Internet systems that allow instant e-mail exchange and live browsing of the resources on the World Wide Web.

The focus of support for efficient networking is now on the following:

• New electronic information-management techniques;

• Intercommunication between discontinuous and interactive systems;

• Creation of a pool of local experience and strengthened technical capacity; and

• Solutions to the technical difficulties of extending connectivity while building self-sustaining, integrated electronic information networks.

Makerere University

The Makerere University, Kampala (MUKLA), computer communications system has provided e-mail services within Uganda and the rest of East Africa since 1991. MUKLA was a founding member of both the East African Internet Association and the Internet Society of Uganda. It has delivered reliable links, with a global reach, to users in government, business, international agencies, community groups, and nongovernmental organizations. This experience continues with MUKLA’s appropriate-technology FidoNet e-mail systems, which link rural areas that are not suited to full dial-up Internet connections. At the same time, MUKLA’s role has shifted to that of an information facilitator, broker, and manager. Its new role has grown out of its experience with technical and user support for diverse sectors of Ugandan society and its economy.

The East Africa Help Desk

The East Africa Help Desk (EAHD) was established in November 1996. It started as an initiative of the AfricaLink program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development. EAHD has helped build the capacity of networks in the countries of East Africa. Its activities include provision of technical, management, and information training and ongoing support. This support uses e-mail, telephone, and visits to user points and sites.

Staff and trainers have more than 6 years’ experience in providing and servicing connectivity throughout Uganda. EAHD’s clientele has expanded from development and research institutions to firms in the small-business and export sectors. The breadth of this background has given EAHD a wide base of contacts and skills to provide targeted, relevant, and effective user and networking support. Its effective time-management skills and accounting systems have ensured good business practice and maintained sustainable and successful operations.

EAHD provides the following services:

• It coordinates subregional user support and develops local networking capacities;

• It maintains Electronic Network Support Centres (ENSCs) to locate personnel and materials close to clients;

• It develops training materials and programs to provide context and instruction for electronic networking skills; and

• It trains trainers, who in turn spread technical and information proficiency on a continuous skills-transfer basis.

EAHD’s target constituency is expected to extend beyond the current frontiers of AfricaLink partner networks to include other bodies promoting development. The target sectors would include education, in which training resources would unlock the information potential of global links; and small enterprises, which would gain access to new ways to reach markets and source inputs. Support would also be provided for commercial institutions seeking electronic verification and tracking of transactions through the Internet and ENSCs.

These centres extend the target areas beyond the dense capital cities and municipalities to the remote and rural regions, address the issue of the wide spatial interaction that is possible through e-mail radio links and the robust FidoNet system, and promote the integrative capacity of information management within its own technical context.

EAHD’s objectives and activities are

• To respond to support calls by telephone and to offer support by e-mail;

• To provide on-site support and training for users and information brokers;

• To sensitize management to sustainable electronic networking within their organizations;

• To maintain a remotely accessible and searchable database of frequently asked questions, support notes, and experiences;

• To initiate training and provide materials for information management and brokering;

• To provide forums for exchanging and discussing sectoral practice and activities through moderated mailing lists;

• To develop discontinuous, live, and hard-copy solutions to close gaps in information loops;

• To mobilize existing knowledge about development networking in East Africa;

• To build the capacity of information providers to develop and make local information content available;

• To forge strategic partnerships between service providers and information content providers;

• To build its own institutional capacity to meet the needs of its constituencies;

• To establish regional Networking Support and Information Centres; and

• To develop information-sharing tools and resources for common use.

Other partners or potential partners in this endeavour are the following:

• School to School Initiative (World Bank);

• Acacia Uganda Strategy, through support to secondary-school computer clubs;

• Makerere–McMaster University Partnership Program for Medical Students;

• Uganda Connectivity Project;

• MUKLA Engineering Computer Society; and

• International Association of Students in Management and Economics.

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Document(s) 8 of 11