Pr Roger Atsa Etoudi : “Digital transformation cannot be efficient if the normative and descriptive procedures put in place are not suitable” 

Pr Roger Atsa Etoudi explain the general background context of  the Third International Conference on Information and Communication Technology for African Development, ICT4AD’19 that will be held at Yaounde Cameroon (Mont Febe Hotel, 26-28 November 2019) on the theme: “ICT Adoption and Implementation for African Sustainable Development”.

Almost all the domains of opportunity in Africa are facing development issues. There is a necessity to address these issues in order to allow this continent to foster its development for the benefit of its population. In Africa continent is facing so many problems in such a way that it is the poorest in the world despite its richness. African continent has a very rich subsoil, fauna and flora. This richness should have put this continent among the richness in the world. Despite this given pf the nature, the continent remains very poor. This poverty has pushed many Africans to other continents for a better future. Almost every day, Africans are disappearing in the sea as they want to reach Europe anyhow. The poverty is so general that it has become a general concerned. There is a need to address this issue to save African continent from a suffocating level of poverty and inequality. We must save lives, but we must also safeguard the future in Africa. Solution in tackling these issues may come from the use of ICT.

Development-oriented actions are undertaken in most African countries, yet the positive impacts of these actions are often negligible. These kinds of issues are by no means restricted to a specific country: a global initiative is needed to tackle these challenges that brings together researchers, practitioners, academia and decision makers. The aim of this third international conference in ICT for African development focuses on the “Adoption of digital transformation for African sustainable development”. The use of ICT, which brings transparency and efficiency in human activities, can play an important role in the development of all Africans. These activities are critical in African societies as they can significantly contribute to poverty reduction and economic growth.

Most political leaders in Africa are addressing this issue by putting in place measures for the adoption of ICT by their population to ensure that the development can efficiently be addressed. Of course, digital transformation cannot be efficient if the normative and descriptive procedures put in place are not suitable and the population is not aware on the positive impacts of the use of ICT in their daily live. This conference comes not only to sensitize different stakeholders in Africa on the use of ICT for development by presenting various application of information technology in the improvement of the lifestyles.

This conference welcomes papers related to ICT that may foster the development of Africa. These papers can draw on theory or experiences of practice in the use of ICT. Papers related but not exclusively to the following domains are welcome:

1. Theoretical Aspects in Information System
   1. Information Systems Modeling
   1. Information System Management
   1. Process modelling and discovery
   1. Data modelling
   1. GIS and Society
2. Cultural Issues of ICT in Africa
   1. African Digital Entrepreneurship
   1. Digital and Socio-Cultural Identity in Africa
   1. Indigenous Theorising in the African Context
   1. Knowledge Management and Knowledge Sharing in Africa
3. Social Issues of ICT in Africa
   1. Digital Economy in Africa
   1. Socio-Cultural Issues of ICT in Africa
   1. Impacts (positive and negative) of ICT use in Africa
   1. Critical Realism and ICT4D in Africa
   1. Applications of Social Media in Organizations in Africa
4. ICT for Digital Transformation
   1. E Waste in Africa
   1. ICT driven Millennium & Sustainable Development Goals Implementation in Africa
   1. E-Health, Telemedicine, and Traditional Medicine in Africa.
   1. E-Commerce & E-Government in Africa
   1. Ethical and Legal issues in ICT
   1. Digital Platform Development and Application
5. ICT for Education (ICT4E)
   1. M-learning in Africa,
   1. E-learning in Africa
   1. Social Media driven Learning in Africa
6. Applied ICT projects
   1. Tax collection management
   1. Road safety control management
   1. Medicine management
   1. Learning management
   1. Agriculture management
   1. Human Resource Management

The conference language is English. The conference is sponsored by the African Centre for Women & ICT, Wiley, the Ministry of Higher Education in Cameroon, and the National Information and Communication Technology Agency in Cameroon. During the conference, participants will take part in the following activities:

Roundtable Discussion: The theme is related to Digital Transformation as a vehicle of development: A dream or a reality for a sustainable development of African Countries. This activity will be moderated by Professor Robert M Davison from the City University of Hong Kong with the participation of various experts whose names will be posted on the website (www.ict4ad.cm) of the conference shortly.

Workshop: The associated topic is “how to set up a digital transformation project for a sustainable development of the society”. The participants will be CIOs of various institutions in African countries, experts in the digital transformation field, academia and decision makers. The invited speakers will be prominent researchers and practitioners in this field. The names of invited speakers will be posted on the website in due time.

Paper presentation: All accepted papers will be grouped in several panels for their presentation. Each panel will be chaired by a scientific committee member, the chair for each panel will be known before the conference. This information will be available on the website of the conference. At least one author should confirm participation at the conference for it to appear in the proceedings and be programmed in a panel for presentation.

Industry Symposium: The objective of the Industry symposium is to establish an efficient dialogue between ICT4D practitioners and ICT4D researchers concerning the challenges, findings (both positive and negative), encountered obstacles, and lessons learned on the application of ICT in real world cases. Of particular interest is information on applying ICT in diverse lifecycle styles, industry sectors, and government. All proposals should have up to 6-page papers (including references). This submission will be reviewed by three reviewers giving feedback. Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings. The submission should be done through     info@ict4ad.cm with ICT4AD Industry symposium as the email subject.

Social Event: Visit to a Cameroonian village to discover traditional buildings and lifestyles. At the end of the visit, participants will share a Cameroonian barbecue and enjoy Cameroon culture. www.ict4ad.cm

By Pr Roger Atsa Etoundi