Does your area make a National Information and Communication .

National ICT plans, also known as National Information and Communication Infrastructure plans (NICI), are key to implementing the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) - an action framework that has been the foundation for data and communication activities in Africa since 1996. AISI is not about technology. It is about giving Africans the way to amend the quality of their lives and contend against poverty.

Yet not all African countries have developed a NICI plan, formally recognized the plans as governmental policy, or implemented the policy through national action.In fact, do you still know if your country has a NICI, or it's status?

Our dear friends at Online Africa have promulgated a number of African NICI status with this commentary:

During the 1999-2006 period, most nations either had a program or were in the other stages of developing an ICT plan. In 2000, thirteen countries had NICI policies and plans while ten countries were in the work of designing NICI policies and plans. To see the plans of African nations between 1999 and 2006, head over to the NICI Country Pages created by the Economic Commission for Africaonce home to the mostup-to-date information on Africas dynamic NICI scene. For historical documents and other secondary sources, browse the huge number of data at the ICT Observatory. A UNECA PowerPoint showing the NICI status of each African country is usable as well

Years later, however, the amount of African country with active ICT plans remains practically the like as it did in 2004. Many nations still do not take an official government-approved plan. Other countries have seen success, but the position of their NICT plan remains difficult to pinpoint. Moreover, many of the nations that formerly had active national plans have failed to update, re-evaluate, or re-emphasize their plans. A program that functioned in 1999 will not necessarily afford the same results in 2011 due to the changing technological landscape (think social media, mobile, and broadband). Accordingly, a country with an ICT plan is not necessarily a state with an active ICT plan.

With that news, are you questioning if a National Information and Communication Infrastructure plan matters?I would say yes.Just looking at Kenya, which has a program and is now the leading ICT4D country in Africa.

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