TECHNOPOLICY BRIEF 15

FORMULATION OF A NATIONAL ICTPOLICY

George Okado

AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY POLICY STUDIES NETWORKPublished by
The African Technology
Policy Studies Network,
P.O. Box 10081, 00100 General Post Office,Nairobi, Kenya.
© 2007 African Technology
Policy Studies Network (ATPS)

Printed by
Newtec Concepts

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ISBN: 9966-916-76-8

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ABOUT THE AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY POLICY STUDIES NETWORKThe African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multi-disciplinary
network of researchers, policy makers, actors in the private sector and other endusers interested in generating, promoting and strengthening innovative scienceand technology policies in Africa. With a regional secretariat in Nairobi, the network
operates through national chapters in 23 African countries, with an expansion plan
to cover the entire sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the objectives of the network is to disseminate research results to policy
makers, legislators, the organized private sector, civil society, mass media andfarmers’ groups through publications, dialogue and advocacy. Among its range of
publications are the Working Paper Series (WPS), Research Paper Series (RPS),
Special Paper Series (SPS) and the Technopolicy Briefs.
Technopolicy Briefs Series are commissioned short papers written byexperts from all over the world specifically to address current science andtechnology policy concerns and questions in Africa. The briefs are also
summaries of technical papers published under our WPS, SPS and RPS
written to highlight significant policy recommendations. These briefs are
writen with the busy policymakers and non-specialists in mind. The
materials are designed for general readership and help advance theadvocacy and knowledge brokerage roles of the ATPS.
ATPS is supported by a growing number of donors including the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Carnegie Corporation of New York, theRockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, the OPEC Fund, Ford Foundation, CocaCola Eastern Africa, the African Development Bank, and the Royal Dutch Government.

Acronyms
AISI
COMESA
EAC
NICI
ICT
UNDP
UNECA
UNESCO
WB
IT
WDI
M&E
MDG

African Information Society Initiative
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
East African Community
National Information and Communication Infrastructure
Information and Communication Technology
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Commission for Africa
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The World Bank
Information Technology
World Development Indicators
Monitoring and Evaluation
Millennium Development Goals

Table of Contents
1.0

Why the ICT Policy Brief?

1

2.0

What are ICTs?
2.1
Traditional ICTs
2.2
New ICTs
2.3
Convergence
2.4
Information and Communication2

3.0

What is an ICT Policy?
3.1
Why an ICT Policy?
3.2
What is the Scope?

4

4.0

How are ICT Policies Formulated?
4.1
What is the Process?
4.2
Who Formulated?
4.3
Where is it Formulated?

75.0

How is an ICT Policy Implemented?
5.1
How is it Implemented?
5.2
How is Implementation enforced?
5.3
What Resources are Required?

11

6.0

Will the Policy Work?
6.1
Why Monitor?
6.2
What is Monitored?

13

References

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1.0
Why the ICT Policy Brief?
Many countries are publishing visionary information and communication
technologies (ICTs) policies to benefit from the perceived potential of ICTs topromote economic and social development and combat poverty.
These policy documents aim to develop strategies for harnessing ICTs’ potential
for societal benefits. In part, they are responding to concerns over countries that do
not take full advantage of these technologies: they would be left further behind on
the wrong side of a growing “digital divide” that would trap them in deeper andintractable poverty.
As a result, policy makers have to be familiar with ICT policy formulation and gain
clarity over questions such as:a) What is an ICT Policy?
b) What type of ICT policy should it be?
c) What process should be followed?
d) Who should be involved?
e) What resources are required?
The purpose of this policy brief is to provide some basic guidelines on addressingthese questions. It is a compass, not a step-by-step policy formulation cookbook. It
simply points in the direction of the policy formulation process.
It is intended for policy makers, ICT-for-development practitioners and a broader
audience interested in the role of ICTs in socio-economic development.
In many discussions on ICTs, it is often assumed that there is a shared common
understanding of what is meant by ICTs. This assumption is not always true. In
reality, understanding ICTs is often as diverse as the field that ICTs represents. As aresult, the full benefit of the discussion is reduced.
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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
It is on this basis that the departure point for the brief is to ask the question: What are
ICTs?

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2.0
What are ICTs?
2.1

Introduction

ICTs are technologies for processing information (that is, presenting it in various
forms, storing it, searching for it, reproducing it, and so on) and transmitting
information from one geographical point to another, from one person to another, toa group of people or to the whole community.
Early ICTs such as the newspaper, radio, television, film and music were labeled
as mass media. The term “mass” underlines the extraordinary size of the audience
reach of many of these technologies. They are also now referred to as traditional
ICTs to distinguish them from new ICTs1 such as computers and the Internet.
Traditional and new ICTs therefore encompass expanding and diverse
communication technologies.
Some technologies are more concerned with transporting information, while others
are more concerned with its production. Radio and television, for example,
simultaneously produce and convey information. In part, these characteristics that
distinguish one ICT from another.

2.2

Traditional ICTs

The history of ICTs starts with the printed book, a technical device for reproducing
text that was already being copied by hand. The book is therefore the result of thesuccessful application of print technology to the reproduction of texts in place ofhandwriting.

1

Sometimes ICTs are distinguished between electronic and non-electronic ICTs.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
In the early medieval period, the book was not regarded as a means ofcommunication but as a store or repository of wisdom and a record or permanent
work of reference.
Postal service is a technology for conveying written messages from one person toanother and distribution of printed materials such as newspapers, journals,
magazines and advertising material.
The significance of postal service as a means of person-to-person communicationis steadily declining, since the advent of contemporary technologies such as Email which offers much faster, more reliable and cheaper solutions.
The main goal of the printed press was to deliver information to a large group ofpeople, such as the population of a town or country.
Film began at the end of the 19th Century as a new means of presentation anddistribution of an older form of entertainment: this includes stories, music anddrama for popular consumption. It was also almost instantly a true channel of mass
medium as it quickly reached a very large proportion of the population.
Both radio and television produce and distribute information simultaneously,
although production is technically separated from distribution. Radio is the cheapest
ICT which explains why it is the most available and widespread ICT in the world,both in developing and developed countries.
When recorded music (recording and replaying of music) began, it quickly gained
appeal of popular songs and melodies. Much radio content since the early days
has consisted of music, even since the rise of television. This has greatly increased
the range and amount of music available and extended it to many more people
than had access to gramophone.
Each development since then – portable tape players, the Sony Walkman, thecompact disc and music video – has extended the reach of music, resulting in a
mass media industry segment which is very inter-related.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
These ICTs represent the bulk of traditional ICTs. The expression “new media” or“new ICTs” has been in use since the 1960s. It encompasses an expanding anddiversifying set of communication technologies.

2.3

New ICTs

The term telecommunications means literally “communicating over distance”.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), for instance,
telecommunication signifies “any transmission, emission, or reception of signs,
signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio opticalor other electronic systems (ITU, 1965, p 9, quoted in Babe, R.E)
In that sense, the term denotes even the physical transportation of messages
inscribed on hard copy. As customarily used, however, telecommunication hasless expansive meaning.
From a historical perspective, however, even ITU’s definition is too broad.
In practice, for many years, the term telecommunication was reserved forcommunications from one point to another as in the telephone. It did not covercommunication from one point to many points as in broadcasting.
However, with technological changes, telecommunication has become anomnibus term denoting all modes of electronic communication.
Today, telecommunications includes wired and wireless telephony; different mobile
services, such as cellular telephones and paging; and voice and data transmission.
Existing telephone networks are now also used to complement computer networks.
Computers play a central role in the new ICTs. The key to the immense power ofthe computer as a communication machine lies in the process of digitalizationthat allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency
and also intermingled.
Alongside computer-based technologies there are other innovations that have insome degree changed some aspects of communication. New means of storage○

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and retrieval include the personal video recorder, CD-ROM and compact disk.
The computer has also led to new means of transmission by cable, satellite andradio, which have expanded the capacity to transmit.
Internet, unlike other ICTs, is not just one technology. It is a large range ofcommunication technologies and a vast array of communicative texts supported
by a set of standards between computers.
The Internet is often described as though it is one huge computer. In reality, however,the Internet is an intricate collection of smaller networks. As such the Internet is alarge global web of networks that link together commercial computercommunication services, university, government and corporate networks.
Just like the international telephone system, the Internet enables communication
between individuals and computers almost anywhere in the world. Whilst akin tobroadcasting, a single source can get a message to millions. The Internet, unlike
broadcasting, is a two-way medium.
It is through the Internet that the neat distinction between traditional and new ICTs
is far less easy to distinguish than it used to be.

2.4

ConvergenceThis occurs as a result of the process of digitalization which allows information of
all kinds and formats to be carried in a single medium. This implies the dismantlingof boundaries between the main types of ICTs. One example is film content that is
distributed on many kinds of television, by way of telephone network, on cassette oreven on the internet.
This means that technologies for the processing and transmission of information
have begun to use the same language or are convergent.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
and Babe (1997), convergence has four aspects: technical, functional, corporate
and legislative/regulatory.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
a) Technical convergence means that increasing a single mode oftransmission (for example, a coaxial or fibre optic cable or satellite)
simultaneously transmits diverse modes of messages forms: voice, text,
data, sound, and image.
b) Functional convergence sometimes referred to as “multimedia” points tonew, hybrid services combining voice, data, text and/ or image.
c) Cooperate convergence refers to mergers, amalgamations anddiversifications whereby media organizations come to operate acrosspreviously distinct boundaries.
d) Legislative/ regulatory convergence refers to the logic that different
regulatory regimes should increasingly be rationalized.

2.5

Information and Communication

Since the primary function of ICTs is to facilitate communication, it is impossible toexamine ICTs without reference to communication. It is also true that reference tocommunication cannot be made without considering information on which it
depends.
Communication, simply defined, is the exchange of ideas through messages(information). It is not the mechanism of transfer of fact and figures. It is an interactive
process that works in a dynamic and on-going way (Hiebert el, 1985). In
communication, the role of sending and receiving changes hands, depending on
who is talking and who is listening. This implies equality and shared interest.
Ideally, ICTs should promote this role of equality and shared interest ofcommunication.
Information made available by ICTs is an important source of awareness of ashared past, and of a present social location. It is also a store of memories and amap of where we are and who we are and may also provide the materials fororientation to the future. ICTs are therefore a means of production and distributionof knowledge – a basic ingredient of socio-economic development. Acquisition
and use of knowledge is now regarded as essential in improving people’s lives,
especially the lives of the poorest.

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UNESCO’s International Commission for the study of Communication Problems(MacBride Commission) stated that communication should be considered as abasic human right. Each community should have the ability to create knowledge
from their own communities for their empowerment.

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3.0
What is an ICT Policy?
A policy is a programme of planned activities to achieve a set of objectives. National
policies are formulated to achieve national development goals.
Policies can take many forms, ranging from clauses in national constitutions andlaws to technical and administrative procedures and specifications. As a result, awide range of bodies, both private and public, may administer policies.
Why, however, do we need to develop ICT policies?

3.1

Why an ICT Policy?

ICTs are of public interest as they are essential to the long term welfare of society:they have political, social and economic functions.
In the political sphere, for example, governments rely on ICTs to communicate‘downwards’ and receive information in return from citizens, for example, by way of
public opinion, often expressed in the newspaper press. ICTs are also the sourceof information for active political life as they facilitate information flow to and among
citizens and constituent bodies.
The social and cultural functions of communication overlap with the field of politics,
but have a much wider reference. They relate to the whole range of news,
entertainment and art, amusement, sports coverage and public education.
Continuous communicative interaction, at numerous ‘levels’, from that of the family
to the state, is necessary for the healthy’ or just ‘normal’ life of societies.
The economic value of communication to society is unmistakable and is increasing
all the time. ICTs and many related communication activities are often industries inthemselves, producing informational products.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
Poor areas or hard-to-reach regimes are generally difficult to serve profitably andso tend to be left unserved by the private sector.
How do we formulate a public ICT policy or a set of ICT policies to secure all these
conditions?

3.2

What is the Scope?

One approach is to formulate an ICT policy so as to apply to one or more categories
of ICTs, for example, newspapers or broadcasting. The National ICT policy for
Kenya covers information technology services, telecommunication, postal services
and broadcasting services.
The policy applying to one or more categories of ICTs may be combined withexamining some or all aspects of the selected ICT which may be: structure,
infrastructure and technology, distribution, access, conduct and content.
Structure deals with matters of ownership. The National ICT Policy for Kenya
addresses ownership of the telecommunications sector and privatization.
Most ICT policies focus on increasing ICT infrastructure access, primarily throughincreased competition and private participation.
However, approaches that focus on technological development have been criticized,
as ICTs policies by themselves are often of little use.
The alternative approach asserts that ICT policies are effective, sustainable, andworth the effort only if they are integrally linked to broader and more comprehensive
strategies such as development and poverty reduction.
Alternatively, these broad objectives can be addressed on a sectoral basis such as
health, education or agriculture – sometimes referred to as vertical policies.
It is important at the outset to determine the scope of the proposed policy. Regardlessof the selected scope, the policy should be linked to some specific development
objective.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
Communication, as in the case of interpersonal oral communication, does notalways need technology. Oral communication is face-to-face or public
communication in which speaker and audience are present in the same place orlimited distance.
How is this linkage achieved?

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4.0
How are ICT Policies Formulated?
Policy-making process normally involves the expression of conflicting interests. It
is convenient to think of such interests as being represented by “actors” whoengage in debate and decision-making in appropriate locations or “fora” where
decisions are made.

4.1

What is the Process?

The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) recommends that the ICT policy
formulation process should start with the definition of national development priorities
as contained in various documents such as the five-year plan, cabinet directions,which ICT policies should support.
In practice the process involves elaborate and prolonged processes that often
cover analysis of national priorities, holding sensitization workshops, developmentof ICT frameworks, securing agreement on the framework, writing policy documents,
taking them through legislations, establishing action plans and implementation ofprogrammes.
It is particularly important to go through these steps in countries where the level of
ICT policy awareness is low as has been the case for most countries in subSaharan Africa.
Tipsons and Fritelli (quoted in Lishan, ) recommend that the relevance of ICT
policies to development can be increased by engaging all key stakeholders (actors)
in national development plans and implementation of ICT policies.
This process attracts a number of actors, each actor promoting their own interests.
Who are these actors and what are their interests?

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4.2

Who Formulates ICT Policy?

McQuail (2000) identifies a number of actors and interests:a) Public versus private interestsb) Owners and employers versus employeesc) Economic versus social culturald) Opposition politicians versus ruling politicianse) National versus internationalf) Developed (the North) versus developing (the South) countries1.
These actors reflect the nature of public interest in ICT Policy.
The potential of conflict between public and private interests demonstrates the
struggle over who should initiate or control the expansion of ICTs.
The struggle between national and international actors reflects increased
globalization of ICT infrastructure as service. As a result, national governments
may easily find themselves at odds with multinationals.
How are these conflicts resolved?

4.3

Where is it formulated?

The main fora at which policies are formed are transnational, national and regional.
At the international forum, the likely actors are national governments, international
ICT organizations and development agencies. Examples of these actors are
UNESCO or the ITU. At the international level, ICT policy formulation encounters
forces of globalization. Since today’s globalization, Northern forces largely determine
process, “many developing countries do not obtain a fair share of the benefits ofglobalization and some actually suffer net losses (Khor, 1995, p 16).

2

Sometimes the distinction between developed and developing countries is expressed in terms of the Northand the South respectively.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
The North is in control not only on account of strength but also because of lack of
coordination in the South. National technology policies are largely formulated by
the work of global institutions and their rules and standards. It is vital that developing
countries participate more forcefully and effectively in these institutions. Thisrequires policy coordination among developing countries.
The national forum probably has the widest range of actors and interests including
political parties, labour unions, trade organizations, ICT industry and civil society
interests. The issue of unequal power relationships discussed at the international
level also exists within the nation. This was aptly demonstrated during the formulationof the National ICT Policy in Kenya at the final stakeholders’ conference2 to adopt
the National Draft ICT Policy. Representatives of the industry, commerce and ICT
professionals dominated the conference.
The regional level may be based on economic units such as the East African
Community or Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa. In fact, the Kenya
National ICT Policy was based on the COMESA model.3

3
National Stakeholders at conference to adopt the Draft ICT Policy was held in Mombasa on 13th to 15th
June 2005.
4
COMESA Model

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5.0
How is an ICT Policy Implemented?
5.1

How is the Policy Enforced?

Policies have to be expressed in specific rules or regulations that can be applied to
guide and control activities of ICTs on practical basis.
Regulations may be formal or informal.
Formality refers to three main aspects of enforcement: whether or not it isestablished in law; whether provisions carry enforceable penalties (financial orotherwise); and whether permanent or temporary.
Informal mechanisms of enforcement rely on customary agreement and voluntarycompliance.
The degree of formality is related to enforcement power.
ICTs are still essentially national institutions that are not subject to external bodies:
the most powerful is the intervention of the state and government.
This is followed by specific laws that regulate ICTs. The Communications
Commission of Kenya (1999) Act, for example, regulates aspects of broadcasting
and telecommunications.
Another category of regulations is general laws of the country within which the ICTs
operate such as libel laws. There may also be administrative, technical andeconomic regulation.
There are also supervisory and advisory bodies to monitor performance standards.
Finally, there are voluntary codes of practice and ethics for ICT organizations (self–regulation) outside pressure groups.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
Regulations are devices for solving or avoiding some particular problem or issue of
ICT policy. Because of continually developing technology and changing socialand economic context, issues for ICT policy are never fixed and static. They change
their character and salience over time and from place to place.
In addition, globalization has also raised issues for national control. ICT messages
are, for example, no longer easy to halt at the national frontier.
5.2
What Resources are Required?
Resource inputs take a variety of forms. These can be institutional structures,
including the mechanisms required to implement initiatives or supervise the overall
strategy. They will include staff, often times highly skilled professionals with expertisein ICTs as well as other selected areas of policy focus.
Financial resources are undoubtedly a key input.
Implementation Planning
The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) recommends the development of adetailed action plan, time schedule, priorities and budget.

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6.0
Will the ICT Policy Work?
Although ICT initiatives and national policies have proliferated in many countries in
the last few years, not much has been done to measure their impact.
The development of an ICT Policy represents a major challenge for individual
countries, as well as a significant risk for many of them.
One of the risks is that many counties spend significant time, energy and resources
to develop ICT policies that remain blue prints or “white elephants” because no
systematic set of indicators are agreed and established to monitor and evaluate
their implementation.
6.1
Why Monitor?
The absence of such a framework of indicators makes it difficult to evaluate ICT
policy impacts or ability to compare their achievements.
Monitoring and evaluation encounters several problems. As Mansell and Wehnwrite, “attempts to measure the impact of ICTs on the economies of industrializedcountries encounter severe problems of statistical classification and data
availability” (Mansell and When, 1998, p14).
Although the Kenya National ICT policy acknowledges the significance ofmonitoring and evaluation, it is vague. It states that this will be done by, first, collecting,analyzing and disseminating data and information on the sector to all stakeholders
The second activity will be establishing performance indicators of performance bysector operators and the sector as a whole.
As a result, there are emerging “best practices” in the area of monitoring andevaluation of ICT policies and their components.
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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15

One methodology, SCAN-ICT, comprises indicators based on themes that havebeen described by AISI. These include infrastructure development, strategicplanning, capacity building, sectoral applications, e-governance and the information
economy.
It is not quite clear if this methodology is widely used or it is a pilot project that wasnever rolled out.
The World Bank has developed a more comprehensive toolkit as a guide topromoters, supporters, designers and implementers of ICT policies. It is thismethodology that is considered here in detail.
The World Bank approach considers the inter-relationship between policy, strategy
and implementation plan. The overall ICT policy of a country will determine how
and why themes such as “building an information society” or “promoting ICT for
Poverty Reduction” are priority objectives.
Notwithstanding the reasons why a country may select such objectives, in any
particular sector or area, policies, strategies and implementation plans arerespective responses to three main questions: why? what? and how?
Policy–Strategy–
Implementation –

Why
What
How

The implementation level is divided into two operational levels –– “key initiatives”(how certain specific objectives are implemented) and “actions” (which are more
specific to one area of responsibility, for example, institutional or geographic).
At what level should monitoring and evaluation apply?

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
6.2
What is Monitored?
Monitoring and Evaluation applies to all levels but different levels (policy, strategy
and implementation) require different type of indicators.
Policy Goals
Policy goals are measured by development-focused indicators also called impact
indicators. These indicators refer to the country’s economy as a whole and notnecessarily ICTs in particular. For example, a policy may seek to grow the country’s
ICT sector to make it a leading growth factor in the economy. This may be measured
by GDP growth, total employment growth, or productivity.
Strategy
Converting a policy or vision into tangible change on the ground requires choosing
what initiatives to undertake and establishing goals or how far to advance in eachparticular initiative. Some countries call these “flagship” interventions.
For example, if a country has selected the growth of its ICT sector as a policy goal,
it will have to make choices among a number of possibly viable strategic priorities,
such as:(a) Develop ICT infrastructure(b) Develop high-bandwidth technology parks(c) Encourage high-tech foreign direct investment(d) Increase stock of locally trained ICT professionals
Implementation
To meet strategic objectives, a number of distinct initiatives are taken. For each
initiative, key deliverables, or output indicators, should be specified in the strategicplan.
For example, increasing the stock of locally trained ICT professionals will require
a number of interventions, each of which will create different outputs, which may
include:(a)
Improvement of capacity of ICT-focused learning institutions(b)
Increase in demand for ICT education /training

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15(c)Improvement of quality of ICT education at tertiary/vocational
levelsEach key initiative generates interim deliverables or sub-products which form thebasis of interim indicators.
Resource/input indicators
The resources required to undertake these projects and ultimately meet the strategic
and policy objectives, should be specified in the strategy. These make up the
project’s inputs, or input indicators.

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References
Babe, R.E. 1997. Telecommunications: From Old to New Models of Contro. Centre
for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester.
ECA, SCAN-ICT. 2003. Indicators of Information and Communication Technologies,
Economic Commission for Africa, October 2003.
Government of Kenya. 2004. National Draft ICT Policy, Ministry of Information andCommunication.
Hiebert, el. 1985.
Information and Communication technologies, Poverty and Development, Learningfrom Experience. Oxford University Press, New York.
Khor, M. 1995. Globalisation and the Need for coordinated Southern Policy
Response, Cooperation South, pp.15-18, New York, UNDP.
Knowledge for Development, World Development report, 1998/99, Oxford University
Press, New York.
Lishan,Mansell, R.and When, U. 1998. Knowledge Societies; Information Technology for
Sustainable Development. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
McQuail, D. 2000. McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage
Publications.
OECD. 1997a. Measuring Electronic Commerce, (OECD/GD (97)183.), Paris
OECD.
UNDP. 2001. Managing for Results: Monitoring and Evaluation in UNDP, a ResultsOriented Framework. November 2001.
World Bank. 2005. E-strategies, Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit, Global
Information and Communication Technologies Department.

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ATPS Technopolicy Briefs Series
Who Benefits from the New International Intellectual Property Rights Regime? And What Should
Africa Do? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 1)
How Can We Constitutionalize Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property in Kenya ? by
Bernard Sihanya(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 2)What Can Biotechnology Do For Africa? How Can The Associated Risks And Uncertainties Be
Managed? by Norman Clark(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 3)
Who Needs Technology Policy? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 4)
Keeping Hunger at Bay: Genetic Engineering and Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa by John
Mugabe(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 5)
Science in a Globalizing World: Implications for Africa by Awele Maduemezia(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 6)
How can Science and Technology in Africa be Formulated and Implemented? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 7)
How can Science and Technology Policy Aid Nigeria’s Reconstruction? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 8)
Can Africa Develop without Science and Technology by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 9)
How can Innovation Systems and Innovative Clusters be used to Develop Africa? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 10)
Science and Technology and Food Security in Africa? by ATPS/MCST(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 11)
What Danger Lies in the WTO-NAMA Negotiations for Africa? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 12)
What is sui generis System of Intellectual Property Rights? by Moni Wekesa(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 13)

The author is the Executive Director, Information Communication Technologies(ICT) Policy Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

For more information this series and ATPS Contact:

The Executive Director
The African Technology Policy Studies Network
3rd Floor, The Chancery, Valley Road
P.O. Box 10081 00100 General Post Office
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-2-2714092/168/498
Fax: +254-2-2714028
Email: info@atpsnet.org
Website: http://www.atpsnet.org

Published by
The African Technology
Policy Studies Network,
P.O. Box 10081, 00100 General Post Office,Nairobi, Kenya.
© 2007 African Technology
Policy Studies Network (ATPS)

Printed by
Newtec Concepts

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ISBN: 9966-916-76-8

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ABOUT THE AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY POLICY STUDIES NETWORKThe African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multi-disciplinary
network of researchers, policy makers, actors in the private sector and other endusers interested in generating, promoting and strengthening innovative scienceand technology policies in Africa. With a regional secretariat in Nairobi, the network
operates through national chapters in 23 African countries, with an expansion plan
to cover the entire sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the objectives of the network is to disseminate research results to policy
makers, legislators, the organized private sector, civil society, mass media andfarmers’ groups through publications, dialogue and advocacy. Among its range of
publications are the Working Paper Series (WPS), Research Paper Series (RPS),
Special Paper Series (SPS) and the Technopolicy Briefs.
Technopolicy Briefs Series are commissioned short papers written byexperts from all over the world specifically to address current science andtechnology policy concerns and questions in Africa. The briefs are also
summaries of technical papers published under our WPS, SPS and RPS
written to highlight significant policy recommendations. These briefs are
writen with the busy policymakers and non-specialists in mind. The
materials are designed for general readership and help advance theadvocacy and knowledge brokerage roles of the ATPS.
ATPS is supported by a growing number of donors including the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Carnegie Corporation of New York, theRockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, the OPEC Fund, Ford Foundation, CocaCola Eastern Africa, the African Development Bank, and the Royal Dutch Government.

Acronyms
AISI
COMESA
EAC
NICI
ICT
UNDP
UNECA
UNESCO
WB
IT
WDI
M&E
MDG

African Information Society Initiative
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
East African Community
National Information and Communication Infrastructure
Information and Communication Technology
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Commission for Africa
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The World Bank
Information Technology
World Development Indicators
Monitoring and Evaluation
Millennium Development Goals

Table of Contents
1.0

Why the ICT Policy Brief?

1

2.0

What are ICTs?
2.1
Traditional ICTs
2.2
New ICTs
2.3
Convergence
2.4
Information and Communication2

3.0

What is an ICT Policy?
3.1
Why an ICT Policy?
3.2
What is the Scope?

4

4.0

How are ICT Policies Formulated?
4.1
What is the Process?
4.2
Who Formulated?
4.3
Where is it Formulated?

75.0

How is an ICT Policy Implemented?
5.1
How is it Implemented?
5.2
How is Implementation enforced?
5.3
What Resources are Required?

11

6.0

Will the Policy Work?
6.1
Why Monitor?
6.2
What is Monitored?

13

References

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1.0
Why the ICT Policy Brief?
Many countries are publishing visionary information and communication
technologies (ICTs) policies to benefit from the perceived potential of ICTs topromote economic and social development and combat poverty.
These policy documents aim to develop strategies for harnessing ICTs’ potential
for societal benefits. In part, they are responding to concerns over countries that do
not take full advantage of these technologies: they would be left further behind on
the wrong side of a growing “digital divide” that would trap them in deeper andintractable poverty.
As a result, policy makers have to be familiar with ICT policy formulation and gain
clarity over questions such as:a) What is an ICT Policy?
b) What type of ICT policy should it be?
c) What process should be followed?
d) Who should be involved?
e) What resources are required?
The purpose of this policy brief is to provide some basic guidelines on addressingthese questions. It is a compass, not a step-by-step policy formulation cookbook. It
simply points in the direction of the policy formulation process.
It is intended for policy makers, ICT-for-development practitioners and a broader
audience interested in the role of ICTs in socio-economic development.
In many discussions on ICTs, it is often assumed that there is a shared common
understanding of what is meant by ICTs. This assumption is not always true. In
reality, understanding ICTs is often as diverse as the field that ICTs represents. As aresult, the full benefit of the discussion is reduced.
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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
It is on this basis that the departure point for the brief is to ask the question: What are
ICTs?

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2.0
What are ICTs?
2.1

Introduction

ICTs are technologies for processing information (that is, presenting it in various
forms, storing it, searching for it, reproducing it, and so on) and transmitting
information from one geographical point to another, from one person to another, toa group of people or to the whole community.
Early ICTs such as the newspaper, radio, television, film and music were labeled
as mass media. The term “mass” underlines the extraordinary size of the audience
reach of many of these technologies. They are also now referred to as traditional
ICTs to distinguish them from new ICTs1 such as computers and the Internet.
Traditional and new ICTs therefore encompass expanding and diverse
communication technologies.
Some technologies are more concerned with transporting information, while others
are more concerned with its production. Radio and television, for example,
simultaneously produce and convey information. In part, these characteristics that
distinguish one ICT from another.

2.2

Traditional ICTs

The history of ICTs starts with the printed book, a technical device for reproducing
text that was already being copied by hand. The book is therefore the result of thesuccessful application of print technology to the reproduction of texts in place ofhandwriting.

1

Sometimes ICTs are distinguished between electronic and non-electronic ICTs.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
In the early medieval period, the book was not regarded as a means ofcommunication but as a store or repository of wisdom and a record or permanent
work of reference.
Postal service is a technology for conveying written messages from one person toanother and distribution of printed materials such as newspapers, journals,
magazines and advertising material.
The significance of postal service as a means of person-to-person communicationis steadily declining, since the advent of contemporary technologies such as Email which offers much faster, more reliable and cheaper solutions.
The main goal of the printed press was to deliver information to a large group ofpeople, such as the population of a town or country.
Film began at the end of the 19th Century as a new means of presentation anddistribution of an older form of entertainment: this includes stories, music anddrama for popular consumption. It was also almost instantly a true channel of mass
medium as it quickly reached a very large proportion of the population.
Both radio and television produce and distribute information simultaneously,
although production is technically separated from distribution. Radio is the cheapest
ICT which explains why it is the most available and widespread ICT in the world,both in developing and developed countries.
When recorded music (recording and replaying of music) began, it quickly gained
appeal of popular songs and melodies. Much radio content since the early days
has consisted of music, even since the rise of television. This has greatly increased
the range and amount of music available and extended it to many more people
than had access to gramophone.
Each development since then – portable tape players, the Sony Walkman, thecompact disc and music video – has extended the reach of music, resulting in a
mass media industry segment which is very inter-related.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
These ICTs represent the bulk of traditional ICTs. The expression “new media” or“new ICTs” has been in use since the 1960s. It encompasses an expanding anddiversifying set of communication technologies.

2.3

New ICTs

The term telecommunications means literally “communicating over distance”.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), for instance,
telecommunication signifies “any transmission, emission, or reception of signs,
signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio opticalor other electronic systems (ITU, 1965, p 9, quoted in Babe, R.E)
In that sense, the term denotes even the physical transportation of messages
inscribed on hard copy. As customarily used, however, telecommunication hasless expansive meaning.
From a historical perspective, however, even ITU’s definition is too broad.
In practice, for many years, the term telecommunication was reserved forcommunications from one point to another as in the telephone. It did not covercommunication from one point to many points as in broadcasting.
However, with technological changes, telecommunication has become anomnibus term denoting all modes of electronic communication.
Today, telecommunications includes wired and wireless telephony; different mobile
services, such as cellular telephones and paging; and voice and data transmission.
Existing telephone networks are now also used to complement computer networks.
Computers play a central role in the new ICTs. The key to the immense power ofthe computer as a communication machine lies in the process of digitalizationthat allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency
and also intermingled.
Alongside computer-based technologies there are other innovations that have insome degree changed some aspects of communication. New means of storage○

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and retrieval include the personal video recorder, CD-ROM and compact disk.
The computer has also led to new means of transmission by cable, satellite andradio, which have expanded the capacity to transmit.
Internet, unlike other ICTs, is not just one technology. It is a large range ofcommunication technologies and a vast array of communicative texts supported
by a set of standards between computers.
The Internet is often described as though it is one huge computer. In reality, however,the Internet is an intricate collection of smaller networks. As such the Internet is alarge global web of networks that link together commercial computercommunication services, university, government and corporate networks.
Just like the international telephone system, the Internet enables communication
between individuals and computers almost anywhere in the world. Whilst akin tobroadcasting, a single source can get a message to millions. The Internet, unlike
broadcasting, is a two-way medium.
It is through the Internet that the neat distinction between traditional and new ICTs
is far less easy to distinguish than it used to be.

2.4

ConvergenceThis occurs as a result of the process of digitalization which allows information of
all kinds and formats to be carried in a single medium. This implies the dismantlingof boundaries between the main types of ICTs. One example is film content that is
distributed on many kinds of television, by way of telephone network, on cassette oreven on the internet.
This means that technologies for the processing and transmission of information
have begun to use the same language or are convergent.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
and Babe (1997), convergence has four aspects: technical, functional, corporate
and legislative/regulatory.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
a) Technical convergence means that increasing a single mode oftransmission (for example, a coaxial or fibre optic cable or satellite)
simultaneously transmits diverse modes of messages forms: voice, text,
data, sound, and image.
b) Functional convergence sometimes referred to as “multimedia” points tonew, hybrid services combining voice, data, text and/ or image.
c) Cooperate convergence refers to mergers, amalgamations anddiversifications whereby media organizations come to operate acrosspreviously distinct boundaries.
d) Legislative/ regulatory convergence refers to the logic that different
regulatory regimes should increasingly be rationalized.

2.5

Information and Communication

Since the primary function of ICTs is to facilitate communication, it is impossible toexamine ICTs without reference to communication. It is also true that reference tocommunication cannot be made without considering information on which it
depends.
Communication, simply defined, is the exchange of ideas through messages(information). It is not the mechanism of transfer of fact and figures. It is an interactive
process that works in a dynamic and on-going way (Hiebert el, 1985). In
communication, the role of sending and receiving changes hands, depending on
who is talking and who is listening. This implies equality and shared interest.
Ideally, ICTs should promote this role of equality and shared interest ofcommunication.
Information made available by ICTs is an important source of awareness of ashared past, and of a present social location. It is also a store of memories and amap of where we are and who we are and may also provide the materials fororientation to the future. ICTs are therefore a means of production and distributionof knowledge – a basic ingredient of socio-economic development. Acquisition
and use of knowledge is now regarded as essential in improving people’s lives,
especially the lives of the poorest.

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UNESCO’s International Commission for the study of Communication Problems(MacBride Commission) stated that communication should be considered as abasic human right. Each community should have the ability to create knowledge
from their own communities for their empowerment.

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3.0
What is an ICT Policy?
A policy is a programme of planned activities to achieve a set of objectives. National
policies are formulated to achieve national development goals.
Policies can take many forms, ranging from clauses in national constitutions andlaws to technical and administrative procedures and specifications. As a result, awide range of bodies, both private and public, may administer policies.
Why, however, do we need to develop ICT policies?

3.1

Why an ICT Policy?

ICTs are of public interest as they are essential to the long term welfare of society:they have political, social and economic functions.
In the political sphere, for example, governments rely on ICTs to communicate‘downwards’ and receive information in return from citizens, for example, by way of
public opinion, often expressed in the newspaper press. ICTs are also the sourceof information for active political life as they facilitate information flow to and among
citizens and constituent bodies.
The social and cultural functions of communication overlap with the field of politics,
but have a much wider reference. They relate to the whole range of news,
entertainment and art, amusement, sports coverage and public education.
Continuous communicative interaction, at numerous ‘levels’, from that of the family
to the state, is necessary for the healthy’ or just ‘normal’ life of societies.
The economic value of communication to society is unmistakable and is increasing
all the time. ICTs and many related communication activities are often industries inthemselves, producing informational products.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
Poor areas or hard-to-reach regimes are generally difficult to serve profitably andso tend to be left unserved by the private sector.
How do we formulate a public ICT policy or a set of ICT policies to secure all these
conditions?

3.2

What is the Scope?

One approach is to formulate an ICT policy so as to apply to one or more categories
of ICTs, for example, newspapers or broadcasting. The National ICT policy for
Kenya covers information technology services, telecommunication, postal services
and broadcasting services.
The policy applying to one or more categories of ICTs may be combined withexamining some or all aspects of the selected ICT which may be: structure,
infrastructure and technology, distribution, access, conduct and content.
Structure deals with matters of ownership. The National ICT Policy for Kenya
addresses ownership of the telecommunications sector and privatization.
Most ICT policies focus on increasing ICT infrastructure access, primarily throughincreased competition and private participation.
However, approaches that focus on technological development have been criticized,
as ICTs policies by themselves are often of little use.
The alternative approach asserts that ICT policies are effective, sustainable, andworth the effort only if they are integrally linked to broader and more comprehensive
strategies such as development and poverty reduction.
Alternatively, these broad objectives can be addressed on a sectoral basis such as
health, education or agriculture – sometimes referred to as vertical policies.
It is important at the outset to determine the scope of the proposed policy. Regardlessof the selected scope, the policy should be linked to some specific development
objective.

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
Communication, as in the case of interpersonal oral communication, does notalways need technology. Oral communication is face-to-face or public
communication in which speaker and audience are present in the same place orlimited distance.
How is this linkage achieved?

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4.0
How are ICT Policies Formulated?
Policy-making process normally involves the expression of conflicting interests. It
is convenient to think of such interests as being represented by “actors” whoengage in debate and decision-making in appropriate locations or “fora” where
decisions are made.

4.1

What is the Process?

The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) recommends that the ICT policy
formulation process should start with the definition of national development priorities
as contained in various documents such as the five-year plan, cabinet directions,which ICT policies should support.
In practice the process involves elaborate and prolonged processes that often
cover analysis of national priorities, holding sensitization workshops, developmentof ICT frameworks, securing agreement on the framework, writing policy documents,
taking them through legislations, establishing action plans and implementation ofprogrammes.
It is particularly important to go through these steps in countries where the level of
ICT policy awareness is low as has been the case for most countries in subSaharan Africa.
Tipsons and Fritelli (quoted in Lishan, ) recommend that the relevance of ICT
policies to development can be increased by engaging all key stakeholders (actors)
in national development plans and implementation of ICT policies.
This process attracts a number of actors, each actor promoting their own interests.
Who are these actors and what are their interests?

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4.2

Who Formulates ICT Policy?

McQuail (2000) identifies a number of actors and interests:a) Public versus private interestsb) Owners and employers versus employeesc) Economic versus social culturald) Opposition politicians versus ruling politicianse) National versus internationalf) Developed (the North) versus developing (the South) countries1.
These actors reflect the nature of public interest in ICT Policy.
The potential of conflict between public and private interests demonstrates the
struggle over who should initiate or control the expansion of ICTs.
The struggle between national and international actors reflects increased
globalization of ICT infrastructure as service. As a result, national governments
may easily find themselves at odds with multinationals.
How are these conflicts resolved?

4.3

Where is it formulated?

The main fora at which policies are formed are transnational, national and regional.
At the international forum, the likely actors are national governments, international
ICT organizations and development agencies. Examples of these actors are
UNESCO or the ITU. At the international level, ICT policy formulation encounters
forces of globalization. Since today’s globalization, Northern forces largely determine
process, “many developing countries do not obtain a fair share of the benefits ofglobalization and some actually suffer net losses (Khor, 1995, p 16).

2

Sometimes the distinction between developed and developing countries is expressed in terms of the Northand the South respectively.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
The North is in control not only on account of strength but also because of lack of
coordination in the South. National technology policies are largely formulated by
the work of global institutions and their rules and standards. It is vital that developing
countries participate more forcefully and effectively in these institutions. Thisrequires policy coordination among developing countries.
The national forum probably has the widest range of actors and interests including
political parties, labour unions, trade organizations, ICT industry and civil society
interests. The issue of unequal power relationships discussed at the international
level also exists within the nation. This was aptly demonstrated during the formulationof the National ICT Policy in Kenya at the final stakeholders’ conference2 to adopt
the National Draft ICT Policy. Representatives of the industry, commerce and ICT
professionals dominated the conference.
The regional level may be based on economic units such as the East African
Community or Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa. In fact, the Kenya
National ICT Policy was based on the COMESA model.3

3
National Stakeholders at conference to adopt the Draft ICT Policy was held in Mombasa on 13th to 15th
June 2005.
4
COMESA Model

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5.0
How is an ICT Policy Implemented?
5.1

How is the Policy Enforced?

Policies have to be expressed in specific rules or regulations that can be applied to
guide and control activities of ICTs on practical basis.
Regulations may be formal or informal.
Formality refers to three main aspects of enforcement: whether or not it isestablished in law; whether provisions carry enforceable penalties (financial orotherwise); and whether permanent or temporary.
Informal mechanisms of enforcement rely on customary agreement and voluntarycompliance.
The degree of formality is related to enforcement power.
ICTs are still essentially national institutions that are not subject to external bodies:
the most powerful is the intervention of the state and government.
This is followed by specific laws that regulate ICTs. The Communications
Commission of Kenya (1999) Act, for example, regulates aspects of broadcasting
and telecommunications.
Another category of regulations is general laws of the country within which the ICTs
operate such as libel laws. There may also be administrative, technical andeconomic regulation.
There are also supervisory and advisory bodies to monitor performance standards.
Finally, there are voluntary codes of practice and ethics for ICT organizations (self–regulation) outside pressure groups.

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15
Regulations are devices for solving or avoiding some particular problem or issue of
ICT policy. Because of continually developing technology and changing socialand economic context, issues for ICT policy are never fixed and static. They change
their character and salience over time and from place to place.
In addition, globalization has also raised issues for national control. ICT messages
are, for example, no longer easy to halt at the national frontier.
5.2
What Resources are Required?
Resource inputs take a variety of forms. These can be institutional structures,
including the mechanisms required to implement initiatives or supervise the overall
strategy. They will include staff, often times highly skilled professionals with expertisein ICTs as well as other selected areas of policy focus.
Financial resources are undoubtedly a key input.
Implementation Planning
The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) recommends the development of adetailed action plan, time schedule, priorities and budget.

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6.0
Will the ICT Policy Work?
Although ICT initiatives and national policies have proliferated in many countries in
the last few years, not much has been done to measure their impact.
The development of an ICT Policy represents a major challenge for individual
countries, as well as a significant risk for many of them.
One of the risks is that many counties spend significant time, energy and resources
to develop ICT policies that remain blue prints or “white elephants” because no
systematic set of indicators are agreed and established to monitor and evaluate
their implementation.
6.1
Why Monitor?
The absence of such a framework of indicators makes it difficult to evaluate ICT
policy impacts or ability to compare their achievements.
Monitoring and evaluation encounters several problems. As Mansell and Wehnwrite, “attempts to measure the impact of ICTs on the economies of industrializedcountries encounter severe problems of statistical classification and data
availability” (Mansell and When, 1998, p14).
Although the Kenya National ICT policy acknowledges the significance ofmonitoring and evaluation, it is vague. It states that this will be done by, first, collecting,analyzing and disseminating data and information on the sector to all stakeholders
The second activity will be establishing performance indicators of performance bysector operators and the sector as a whole.
As a result, there are emerging “best practices” in the area of monitoring andevaluation of ICT policies and their components.
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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15

One methodology, SCAN-ICT, comprises indicators based on themes that havebeen described by AISI. These include infrastructure development, strategicplanning, capacity building, sectoral applications, e-governance and the information
economy.
It is not quite clear if this methodology is widely used or it is a pilot project that wasnever rolled out.
The World Bank has developed a more comprehensive toolkit as a guide topromoters, supporters, designers and implementers of ICT policies. It is thismethodology that is considered here in detail.
The World Bank approach considers the inter-relationship between policy, strategy
and implementation plan. The overall ICT policy of a country will determine how
and why themes such as “building an information society” or “promoting ICT for
Poverty Reduction” are priority objectives.
Notwithstanding the reasons why a country may select such objectives, in any
particular sector or area, policies, strategies and implementation plans arerespective responses to three main questions: why? what? and how?
Policy–Strategy–
Implementation –

Why
What
How

The implementation level is divided into two operational levels –– “key initiatives”(how certain specific objectives are implemented) and “actions” (which are more
specific to one area of responsibility, for example, institutional or geographic).
At what level should monitoring and evaluation apply?

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Formulation of a National ICT Policy?
6.2
What is Monitored?
Monitoring and Evaluation applies to all levels but different levels (policy, strategy
and implementation) require different type of indicators.
Policy Goals
Policy goals are measured by development-focused indicators also called impact
indicators. These indicators refer to the country’s economy as a whole and notnecessarily ICTs in particular. For example, a policy may seek to grow the country’s
ICT sector to make it a leading growth factor in the economy. This may be measured
by GDP growth, total employment growth, or productivity.
Strategy
Converting a policy or vision into tangible change on the ground requires choosing
what initiatives to undertake and establishing goals or how far to advance in eachparticular initiative. Some countries call these “flagship” interventions.
For example, if a country has selected the growth of its ICT sector as a policy goal,
it will have to make choices among a number of possibly viable strategic priorities,
such as:(a) Develop ICT infrastructure(b) Develop high-bandwidth technology parks(c) Encourage high-tech foreign direct investment(d) Increase stock of locally trained ICT professionals
Implementation
To meet strategic objectives, a number of distinct initiatives are taken. For each
initiative, key deliverables, or output indicators, should be specified in the strategicplan.
For example, increasing the stock of locally trained ICT professionals will require
a number of interventions, each of which will create different outputs, which may
include:(a)
Improvement of capacity of ICT-focused learning institutions(b)
Increase in demand for ICT education /training

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ATPS Technopolicy Brief 15(c)Improvement of quality of ICT education at tertiary/vocational
levelsEach key initiative generates interim deliverables or sub-products which form thebasis of interim indicators.
Resource/input indicators
The resources required to undertake these projects and ultimately meet the strategic
and policy objectives, should be specified in the strategy. These make up the
project’s inputs, or input indicators.

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References
Babe, R.E. 1997. Telecommunications: From Old to New Models of Contro. Centre
for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester.
ECA, SCAN-ICT. 2003. Indicators of Information and Communication Technologies,
Economic Commission for Africa, October 2003.
Government of Kenya. 2004. National Draft ICT Policy, Ministry of Information andCommunication.
Hiebert, el. 1985.
Information and Communication technologies, Poverty and Development, Learningfrom Experience. Oxford University Press, New York.
Khor, M. 1995. Globalisation and the Need for coordinated Southern Policy
Response, Cooperation South, pp.15-18, New York, UNDP.
Knowledge for Development, World Development report, 1998/99, Oxford University
Press, New York.
Lishan,Mansell, R.and When, U. 1998. Knowledge Societies; Information Technology for
Sustainable Development. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
McQuail, D. 2000. McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage
Publications.
OECD. 1997a. Measuring Electronic Commerce, (OECD/GD (97)183.), Paris
OECD.
UNDP. 2001. Managing for Results: Monitoring and Evaluation in UNDP, a ResultsOriented Framework. November 2001.
World Bank. 2005. E-strategies, Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit, Global
Information and Communication Technologies Department.

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ATPS Technopolicy Briefs Series
Who Benefits from the New International Intellectual Property Rights Regime? And What Should
Africa Do? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 1)
How Can We Constitutionalize Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property in Kenya ? by
Bernard Sihanya(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 2)What Can Biotechnology Do For Africa? How Can The Associated Risks And Uncertainties Be
Managed? by Norman Clark(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 3)
Who Needs Technology Policy? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 4)
Keeping Hunger at Bay: Genetic Engineering and Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa by John
Mugabe(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 5)
Science in a Globalizing World: Implications for Africa by Awele Maduemezia(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 6)
How can Science and Technology in Africa be Formulated and Implemented? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 7)
How can Science and Technology Policy Aid Nigeria’s Reconstruction? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 8)
Can Africa Develop without Science and Technology by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 9)
How can Innovation Systems and Innovative Clusters be used to Develop Africa? by Osita Ogbu
(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 10)
Science and Technology and Food Security in Africa? by ATPS/MCST(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 11)
What Danger Lies in the WTO-NAMA Negotiations for Africa? by Ha-Joon Chang(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 12)
What is sui generis System of Intellectual Property Rights? by Moni Wekesa(ATPS Technopolicy Brief 13)

The author is the Executive Director, Information Communication Technologies(ICT) Policy Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

For more information this series and ATPS Contact:

The Executive Director
The African Technology Policy Studies Network
3rd Floor, The Chancery, Valley Road
P.O. Box 10081 00100 General Post Office
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-2-2714092/168/498
Fax: +254-2-2714028
Email: info@atpsnet.org
Website: http://www.atpsnet.org