April-May - Volume 1, Issue 3

EITPA Conducts Workshop on "Basic IT Training in Ethiopia"

The Ethiopian Information Technology Professionals Association (EITPA) conducted a half-day workshop on "Basic IT Training in Ethiopia" on April 16, 2002, at the UN Conference Centre here in Addis Ababa.

Dr. Karima Bounnemra Ben Soltane, and Ato Mulgeta Ameha, Director of DISD/ECA and Commissioner of the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission, respectively were the guests of honour at the opening ceremony of the workshop.

In his welcoming address, Ato Afework Temtime, President of EITPA, highlighted the vital roles that the Association would be playing in its endeavours to make ICT a supportive element for socio-economic development in the country with the active participation of its members.

In her opening speech, Dr. Ben Soltane commended the Association for organizing such a successful event. She said that the Association, as a neutral professional body, could be a major stakeholder and affirmed the readiness of ECA to offer every possible assistance towards realizing the lofty ideals of the Association to bring change in the sector. She assured the meeting that the findings and conclusions that would be drawn at the workshop could serve as important inputs for the "World Information Summit" to be held in Bamako some time in the future.

Ato Mulugeta Ameha, the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commissioner emphasized that ICT would be instrumental for employment creation and boosting the efficiency of economic development in the country. He further stressed that ICT Training has been one of the core areas of human resources development of the New Education Policy that is consistent with the capacity building programme of the country.

During the course of the workshop, an "Overview of Professional Ethics" and a "Report of Study on Assessment of Current Status of Basic IT Training" were presented by Dr. Lishan Adam, Regional IT Advisor at ECA and Ato Girma Feyissa, Consultant, respectively. The lively discussions on the two presentations have resulted in broader understanding and consensus building of the major issues surrounding "ethics" and "Standardization" in the delivery of ICT Training in Ethiopia.

The Workshop was acclaimed by all to be a major success in the life of EITPA and the participants had expressed their desire and cooperation for the continued success of the Association. ICT professionals were urged to register in order to pool common knowledge and resources towards the sustainable development of the sector. More than 70 professionals from ICT companies, public agencies and private businesses had attended the Workshop.

African Lakes and Alta Computec had sponsored the Workshop.