First Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum set for Brussels

24 Mar 2009

Sub-Saharan African and European policymakers will be brought together along with ICT research organisations to address the development of collaborative projects. The two-day event is organised by the European Commission (DG INFSO) with the support of the African Union Commission and the EU-FP7 EuroAfrica-ICT project. It will be held from 25 - 26 March, 2009 at the EC premises in Brussels, Belgium.

First Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum set for Brussels

Attendees will be given the opportunity to:

Network with key stakeholders in the field (private and public)
Identify potential co-operation partners
Learn more about the “EU-AU Partnership on Science, ICT and Space” (the 8th Partnership) and the EC/AUC programmes
Hear about opportunities to enhance African participation in FP7
Learn more about successful EU-African FP7 co-operation projects and EU-African PPP (public-private partnerships)

Keynote speakers confirmed to date include:

Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media (DG INFSO)
Sally Kosgey, Minister of Higher Education Science and Technology, Kenya
Goundé Désiré Adadja, Minister of ICT, Benin
Ham Musaka Mulira, Minister of Communication and ICT, Uganda
Abdul-Hakim Elwaer, Director, Directorate of Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), African Union Commission (AUC)
Aïda Opoku-Mensah, Director, ICT and Science and Technology Division, UNECA, Ethiopia
Maurice Tchuente, Former S&T Minister, Cameroon / Director of Research, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), France / Professor, University of Yaounde, Cameroon
David Kanamugire, Director General in President's Office in Charge of Information Communication Technologies, Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research, Rwanda
Luis T. Magalhães, President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal
Ilari Lindy, Adviser, Information Society for Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland
Jean-François Girard, President, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France
Gabriel Solomon, Senior Vice President, GSM Association, United Kingdom
Philippe Kuhutama Mawoko, NEPAD Office of Science & Technology, South Africa

European Commission's officials:

Jean-François Soupizet, Head of Unit A4, International Relations (DG INFSO)
Konstantinos Glinos, Head of Unit of GEANT & eInfrastructures (DG INFSO)
Alessandro Damiani, Head of Unit, International Dimension of the Framework Programme (DG RESEARCH)
Stefano Manservisi, Director General, Directorate-General Development (DG DEV)