The 6th International Conference on Open Access

Lilongwe – Malawi
12th - 14th November 2008

Objective
The 6^th Open Access Conference in Lilongwe will focus on open communication infrastructure policies, regulations and access technologies. The conference will also explore how we can promote access to the services which run on the infrastructure to promote development of our societies and accelerate attainment of the MDG’s. This is why the conference theme for 2008 is “Open Access to ICT for Socio-Economic Development.”

Host
The conference is being hosted by the ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM). The mission of ICTAM is to offer leadership in the ICT industry in Malawi by catalysing the development and review of ICT Policies and supporting development efforts aimed at empowering Malawians to participate in the ICT-based global economy through partnerships with Government and all major ICT stakeholders in Malawi. Find detailed information about ICT Association of Malawi.

Target group
The target group includes academicians, professionals, researchers, planners, political readers, private sector, and innovators.

Language
The official conference language is English

Fee and Accommodation
The conference will cover registration and accommodation fees for presenters of selected papers, and to the invited key speakers and participants. In addition, there will be some honoraria to presenters of best papers.

Venue & Date
The conference will be held at the new Cross Roads Cresta Hotel – in Lilongwe, The Capital City of Malawi on 12^th to 14^th November, 2008. This is a new five star hotel in Lilongwe, which has one of the most modern hotel & conference facilities featuring a high-tech auditorium. The hotel is also located in the heart of the capital city with a lot of shops and restaurants within 5 minutes walking distance. An ICT Fair has also been planned and will be hosted on the conference venue grounds under the conference theme. The fair will focus on information & communication technology solutions for enhancing awareness, propagation and distribution of cost effective last mile connectivity, showcasing of fibre optics and VSAT materials, open source software, power systems for rural areas, Wifi/Wimax technologies , community radio transmission equipment, mobile banking and  email systems for remote areas just to mention a few.

 Submission
Authors are invited to submit extended abstracts and original papers (4-6 pages, IEEE transactions two-column style, 10pt). Articles should be tutorial in nature and should be written in a style comprehensible to readers outside the specialty of the article. Articles should be submitted in any popular word processor format here

Important dates
Submissions are due on:        6^th October, 2008
Notification on Papers:          20^th October, 2008
Final Submission of Papers:  3^rd  November, 2008

You are invited to share experiences, plans or hypotheses under validation. We solicit focused abstracts, tutorial and survey contributions as well as research papers on, but not limited to, the following sub themes:ICT Infrastructure

• Emerging communication infrastructures (local, national and regional)
• Network architectures (backbones and Access Networks)
• Alternative source of power supply
• Technical Solutions (for First Mile & Last Mile connectivity)

Strategic ICT Leadership

• Integrating ICT in National Registration, and democratic process, services and productive activities
• ICT governance

Universal Access

• Research and Educational Institutions
• ICT Quality Management & Accreditation
• Rural Development Solutions
• Information & Knowledge centers
• Universal Access Fund
• Accessibility for people with Special Needs

Policy and Social implications

• Legal and Regulatory framework
• Information Security
• The role of ICT on gender socio-economic empowerment
• E-government, E-Inclusion and Local Administration.
• Challenges & Opportunities

ICT Usage

• Productive Sector; Service Sector
• Public service; Local content & Access
• Local Content Access, Archiving and Retrieval.

Open Source, Media and ICT

• Policy & Regulatory issues on Education & Training
• Software, Content and language
• Curriculum Development and Quality Control
• Community Broadcasting Radios, Newspapers & Magazines.

ICT Entrepreneurship & Supply Chains

• Different Business models to create sustainability
• Financing models for ICT in developing countries

Mobile Technology

• M-Applications in Agriculture, Health, Banking  & Education
• First Mile and Last Mile Access

The call for paper in pdf format can be downloaded here.

Advisory Committee
1. Dr. Paulos Nyirenda – Director - Malawi SDNP (Chairperson, Advisory Committee)
2. Professor Björn Perhson – Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
3. Mrs Margret E. Ngwira – University of Malawi and  UbuntuNet Alliance
4. Amos Nungu – Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
5. Thandi Chisala Mbvundula – ICT Programme Manager- OSISA
6. Director General – MACRA
7. Grant Lupiya – Director,  Department Of Information Systems and Technology Management Services
8. Francis Bisika – Director of ICT, CELTEL
9. Ashraf Patel - Forge Ahead
10. Wallace Chagona - Lecturer, Information Systems, University of Cape Town  

Organizing Committee
1. Mr. Charles M. Govati - Chairman of the committee, (Director C&N Computing Services)
2. Mr. Anthony Muyepa – Head of  ICT Department- College of Medicine, University of Malawi.
3. Mr. Anthony Longwe – Head of ICT – DFID Malawi
4. Mr. Tiwonge M. Banda - UbuntuNet Alliance, Kamuzu College of Nursing, University of Malawi
5. Mr. Soyapi Mumba – Programmer – Boabab Health Project.
6. Mrs. Doreen Ligomeka – ICT Manager, National Aids Commission
7. Mr. Dereck Lakudzala –Director, Bumas International
8. Mr. Alex Gondwe – Boabab Health Project
9. Mr. Weston M. Chilapondwa – Managing Director, Computech
10. Mr. John Sprowson – MCCCI Counselor, Lilongwe

Secretariat
1. Patrick Machika - Chairman
2. Soyapi Mumba  - Secretary
3. Sungani Mtande - Member
4. Deborah Jalakasi - Member
5. Steve Chapola - Member
6. Maxwell Phiri  - Member