[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP- AFRICA (WEEK 11)

[Mwathi Francis]

*Social media envoys to post and tweet for malaria control, UN official says
*

15th March 2010

The United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria is today launching a new group
of high-profile Internet users to inspire and involve social media audiences
in the effort to combat the disease.  The UN Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray
Chambers, says the group's members will utilize their social profile to
focus online and offline media audiences on the movement, milestones and
resources required to achieve the Secretary-General’s goal of providing all
endemic African countries with malaria control interventions by the end of
2010. “In our efforts to reach the Secretary-General’s 2010 goal of
universal bed net coverage, and to reach the longer term goal of near-zero
deaths from malaria by 2015, it is critical that acceleration continue in
the malaria control movement,” said Mr. Chambers ahead of today’s launch.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34082&Cr=malaria&Cr1=&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter



*Africa: less than 1 million country domain sites – survey*

16th March 2010

The latest revelation that Africa has less than 1 million country domain
websites is a sign that the continent still favours priorities such as
poverty eradication, land redistribution, basic health care, clean water and
education, among others, ahead of developing its technological capacities.
Vika Mpisane, GM of .ZADNA, made the revelation during the presentation of
.za market research survey yesterday, Tuesday, 16 March 2010, at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg. A country domain is an Internet
‘top level' code assigned to a country, for example .za (South Africa), .uk
(United Kingdom), .de (Germany), .fr (France) and .zw (Zimbabwe). .ZADNA is
the Department of Communications-funded agency in charge of managing SA's
internet .za space.

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/16/45762.html



*Africa could join high-speed science network*

18th March 2010

African science ministers are hoping to extend a high-speed fibre optic
network — currently linking Egypt to the northern hemisphere — to other
countries in Africa.  The Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications
Development (GLORIAD) connects national laboratories and institutes across
Canada, China, Korea, the Netherlands, Russia and the United States,
enabling scientific collaboration in areas ranging from weather forecasting
to high-energy physics.

http://www.scidev.net/en/news/africa-could-join-high-speed-science-network.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_news



*IDC: Africa spends only 20% on ICT*

17th March 2010

As the International Data Corporation (IDC)’s two day conference comes to an
end this afternoon in Johannesburg, South Africa, IT News Africa reporters
caught up with the Vice President and Regional Managing Director for IDC
Middle East, Africa & Turkey, Jyoti Lalchandani. Lalchandani discussed a
wide range of issues surrounding ICT in Africa and abroad, the impact of the
economic crisis in the region and the importance of the CIOs’ role on the
African continent.

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=6223&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+itnewsafrica+(ITNewsAfrica.com)&utm_content=Gmail<http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=6223&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+itnewsafrica+%28ITNewsAfrica.com%29&utm_content=Gmail>



*Uganda Telecom boosts community health*

17th March 2010

Uganda Telecom (UTL), one of the leading telecommunication companies in
Uganda has given out 87 free fully connected mobile phones to boost
community health service delivery.  The phones to be channelled through
USAID’s Health Initiatives for the Private Sector Project (HIPS) will be
distributed to community peer educators and private clinics at selected
country sites to carry out referral and information gathering and
dissemination –by establishing a mobile phone based information and referral
network. “The peer educators will use the phones, which are registered under
a closed user group where they get to call each other for free,” said Mark
Kaheru, UTL’s Manager, Marketing Communications.

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7675&Itemid=89



*Internet access through broadband up 50% in South Africa — survey*

 18th March 2010

THE number of South Africans accessing the internet via broadband
connections has increased by more than 50% in the past year, says a new
survey.  The Internet Access in SA 2010 study, conducted by World Wide Worx
and Cisco, found that wireless broadband has grown nearly four times as fast
as fixed- line broadband in SA. The study revealed that most of the growth
in fixed-line broadband comes from small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
upgrading from dial-up to ADSL. This in turn has extended internet access to
more than half-a-million South Africans working in small offices, who did
not previously have access.

http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=103927







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