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This non-commercial, two-day, multistakeholder Symposium brought together senior representatives from governments, universities, industry, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other experts on ICT and education to address important and timely connectivity issues facing East Africa, particularly its institutions of higher education. It sought to identify the challenges facing all key stakeholders and address the needs of higher education connectivity, infrastructure requirements and e-readiness for the 21st century. Participants discussed such key issues as regional interconnection, broadband access, spectrum requirements, bandwidth scaling, regulation, the capabilities of new technologies, research and content connectivity opportunities and challenges, and capacity building and training.
The Symposium also provided an opportunity to discuss public-private partnerships, which will be key to unlocking the vast potential that the new undersea cables and expanded local/regional networks will bring to East Africa.
The event included a series of roundtable discussions and break-out sessions including:
- Connecting Institutions of Higher Education: The Road to the East African Knowledge Society
- Policy and Regulatory Challenges/Part I: The Public Policy Vision
- Policy and Regulatory Challenges/Part II: The Regulator as a Partner
- Tapping the Bandwidth Value Proposition: Paths to Academic Transformation
- Making the Connection: Matching Bandwidth and Technology to Academic Potential
- E-Readiness: Getting Ready for Broadband
- Creating an Enabling Environment for East Africa Connectivity: Meeting the Academic Challenge
- The Way Forward