WCIT 2010 CEO visits Uganda to see ICT progress

Amsterdam, December 16th 2010 – Six months after the World Congress on Information Technology in Amsterdam, CEO Mr. Ralph Van Hessen visited Uganda on behalf of Ms Elizabeth Mukasa, winner of the WCIT 2010 Challenge of Change award. Van Hessen was invited to witness her progress in the field of eInclusion. He spoke at the launch of a new ICT project which is partially funded by the organization of WCIT 2010.

The contribution of Ms Mukasa has ensured that a lot of individuals and communities can now participate in the information society in Uganda. Rather than copying business models from 1st world nations, which is often the case, she successfully launched her own business model (The Opra Learning Centre) based on local Uganda circumstances. The Dutch IT branch organization ICT~Office which hosted WCIT 2010 in Amsterdam is very impressed by Ms Mukasa’s results. Sylvia Roelofs, Managing Director of ICT Office says: “Ms Mukasa’s latest initiative is a perfect example of the essence of what WCIT 2010 was all about”. Mr. Van Hessen strongly believes that this is one of the reasons of her success: “By stimulating entrepreneurship, cooperation and the role of ICT to solve problems in the society, Ms Mukasa found all the ingredients on how ICT can enable change and innovation in Uganda”. The WCIT 2010 organization is very pleased to experience the success and impact of ICT in Uganda.

A warm welcome to WCIT 2010 CEO Ralph Van Hessen

The launch of USSIA-ICT project
WCIT 2010 CEO Ralph van Hessen was invited to attend the launch of the USSIA-ICT project (Uganda Small Scale Industries Association), a local partnership between Ms Mukasa’s Opra Learning Centre and the USSIA. The USSIA is an organization formed in 1979 with the aim to create a forum and structures for supporting and enhancing ICT growth in the small scale industrial sector of Uganda. The project offers small-to-medium enterprises (SME’s) to participate in the information society of Uganda. Through the help of this project people get access to ICT and will learn how to use it. The goal of the project is to considerably raise the number of SME’s having access to IT in the next five years.

About Elizabeth Mukasa
Elizabeth Mukasa has a dream, narrowing the Digital Divide between North and South and creating an eIncluded Africa. Inspired by her experience at WCIT2010 in Amsterdam and the Call for Action put down in the Declaration of Amsterdam, she set up the project immediately after the conference. Her goal is to arrange online access for every African and provide all the necessary equipment to be able to fully participate in the digital society. Since then she is building her dream step by step. Mukasa says: “I realize that I cannot do this by myself. Commitment from governments and organisations at a global level is needed to achieve this ambitious goal”. WCIT2010 recognizes the importance of Mukasa’s initiative and is helping her in various ways to fasten the process by connecting her to important organisations like the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).