At the Connect Africa Summit in October 2007, much of the focus lay on a need to get Africa connected to the World Wide Web. As part of the agreements surrounding this focus, the International Telecommunication Union (also known as ITU) and the African Development Bank agreed to work together to help connect the major cities and capitals in Africa with information and communications technology infrastructure, as well as to increase Africa’s connectivity to the rest of the world.

The announcement of this union came along with the announcement of the various goals for Africa’s connectivity. Part of these goals included: having all of the African capitals connected with broadband and to the rest of the world by 2012, and have all the major cities join the network by 2015. The ITU and the African Development Bank will help with the financing and mobilization of the different partners involved in this process.

One of the things that the African Development Bank does is host the Secretariat of the African Infrastructure Consortium. The Consortium connects the donors and financial institution in the region, and finances the different projects while making sure that a clear approach is being followed by all members.

Private investment in information and communications technology, especially in the mobile phone networks, has been a major player in bringing connectivity to Africa. The various financial partners and development banks will help fill in the gaps that are still remaining in the network.

The idea behind the Connect Africa Summit is to not bring more charity into Africa, but instead develop a strong, reliable infrastructure that will allow Africa to create its own jobs and economic growth. By connecting to the global economy, Africa can actively compete and strengthen its own economy.

The International Telecommunication Union will execute the funds provided by the African Development Bank, as well as provide technical assistance and expertise as needed. It will also help by mobilizing over 650 Sector Members, many of whom are involved in information and communications technology. The ITU and the African Development will also study the feasibility of different projects and come up with project proposals to help meet goals.

The ITU and the African Development bank will work together to rationalize funds and keep projects on task to integrate information and communication technologies to more areas. This includes laying fiber optic cables, transport and energy projects, and encouraging innovative infrastructure. They will also assist countries with the development of new regulations and policies that will encourage a growth of the new infrastructure.

At the Connect Africa Summit in October 2007, a good deal of focus was placed on the need for Africa to get connected to the global network through broadband and mobile connectivity. The hope is that expansion in these areas will strengthen Africa’s economy as a whole and allow the continent to become a major player in the global market.

At the Summit, Microsoft and the United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union (also known as ITU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding that they would work together to build an information society that was safe and inclusive for all countries. They also launched an ITU Global view. This earth-based online platform will help accelerate and track the goals of a more connected Africa.

The partnership has agreed to help with the skills development and capacity building programs throughout Africa, as well as the delivery of the services needed to support these programs. This also includes a way for the different investors in Africa to track the new developments online, as well as a commitment to work on cyber-security and regulations in the developing continent.

The Connect Africa plan calls for the private sector to step up to the plate and get the technologies implemented, and many are encouraged by the roles that Microsoft and the ITU will play in making the vision a reality.

The plans outlined at the Summit will have a huge impact on the developing economy in Africa. Bringing the Internet to over five billion people is no small task, and will require the support of several international organizations, the different African governments, and the private sector that is already connected. The development of the technologies alone will help create new jobs and opportunities for the people involved.

Global View, the on-line visualization program, was also introduced at the Summit. This program combines the current and new data sources for information and communications technology development on a global scale. It will help keep track of the goals set up at the Summit for a more connected Africa.

The software was developed with the help of IDV Solutions. Designed to be easy to view, the ITU will help maintain and host the program. Anyone who is a part of the Connect Africa program, including stakeholders, governments, industry leaders, organizations, and the private sector will be able to access it. This allows the users to see which goals are being met, which programs are overlapping unnecessarily, and where there are gaps that need to be filled.