notesfromthee-liberiavision2006.docVIP

Notes from the E-Liberia Vision 2006 Working Meeting on ICT’s for Development in Liberia At Georgia Tech September 13, 2006 (Notes compiled by Celeste Buckhalter) Overview of ICTs in Liberia - Amara Konneh - Liberian government ? Post-conflict nation - leap frog into innovations of 21st century Ben Walo? (sp?) Point person at Liberian telecom corp until it can grow until viable to national reconstruction ? Infrastructure Not much there Booming gsm industry Text message cell phones happening Most of pop believed to carry cells 4 cell companies All over country Potential there - tap into potential with cell phones - other forms of ICT to reach out to people - give everyone access to information Difficult Towers installed all over country - already there - wireless/satellite/structure building Gsm = multimillion $ industry…pass as you go…no contract…dont buy prepaid card, you dont use your phone How do we go beyond cell phone communication methods? ? Untapped potential beyond gsm Emerging economy Opportunity to run fiberoptic wires so dont redig…need to do this from beginning and hand in hand with energy sector is doing MS is there Big companies in Liberia Firestone plantation is there Working very hard - whole industry that can use icts in Liberia Q A session - large steel company that is going to open doors to software/hardware companies Most every ngo in the world is represented in Liberia Worldbank Good news for govt and people but also for investors Investors bring ICTs adequate to get work done or nothing at all…how do we meet their needs? Small Liberian owned ICT companies Cyber cafes/internet cafes Internet to call relatives in america (skype) Biggest issue is CAPACITY! How do we sustain it? Sustainability is very critical to any ict success in Liberia Tech boom happening, they were busy trying to survive feed their children. We must run now to catch up and that doesnt happen overnight. Need to attract other people…MS…Cisco…HP…IBM… Liberia is like a br