Getting Started in ICT Policy

Editor's Pick - ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook APC's new book lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. It's a book for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant rates for dial-up internet access and ready to organise… It's not a map but it IS a compass. Browse the handbook online

New to information and communications technology (ICT) policy?

Here we’ve collected introductory material and we suggest you start by taking a look at the overviews and some of the resources. All sections have recommended reading marked with a star

What is ICT policy? An introduction by APC

Who’s working on ICT policy in Africa? Visit our directory of organisations and initiatives

Subscribe to APC newsletters: Chakula is dedicated to ICT policy in Africa. APCNews is a monthly newsletter that includes stories from around the world and has an ICT policy section

ICT policy resources for beginners

Chosen by our editors, you can visit the resources section of the site to find out more.

 Toolkit: Communicating with policymakers
(Ingie Hovland, ODI) This toolkit is specifically geared towards the needs of researchers and practitioners in civil society organisations, including development NGOs, research institutes, think tanks, universities and networks. The toolkit addresses the questions of how researchers and CSOs can best "communicate evidence" in order to inform or influence policy, to achieve their own stated development objectives, or simply to make their own knowledge accessible and understandable to a wider audience. [File type:.pdf download / 466kb]

 Why should intellectual property rights matter to civil society?
IPR has affected the public’s access to knowledge in the public domain and to copyrighted works, limited legitimate opportunities for cultural appropriations, stifled learning, creativity, innovation thus placing curbs on the democratisation of knowledge. IPR has also infiltrated into the domain of food and medicine, threatening the sustainability of indigenous knowledge and biodiversity.

 Free Press: Beginner's Guide to Media Reform
The Beginner's Guide presents an introductory look at media reform for people new to the issue. Why is the media system the way it is? Why is it important to the issues I care about? What's being done to fix it?

 How to Do Community Radio
(Mr. Louie Tabing) Several ways and means are possible to set up a community radio, organize it or compose its equipment. This primer builds on the experience of Tambuli, which in the past ten years has grown from one community radio to a network of 25 stations. Often located in remote rural areas, these stations are “operated in the community, for the community, about the community and by the community”.

 ICT Handbook on Cyber Law and Civil Society
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), in partnership with law firm Cheadle, Thompson, Haysom, is pleased to announce that its new book Cyber Law for Civil Society- A Resource Guide has just been released.

 ICT Policy for Civil Society Training Curriculum
(APC) The ICT Policy for Civil Society training course builds the capacity of civil society organisations to understand policy and regulation related to information and communication technologies (ICT) so that they can begin to engage and influence policy processes affecting ICT adoption and implementation at national, regional and global levels. This is a five day course with each session planned to last approximately 1.5 hours. The modules can be used stand-alone as training on a particular topic or used together as part of a longer course. Modules are in English with some in Spanish.

  ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook
(APC/Ed. Chris Nicol) This book by APC lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. It is for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant rates for dial-up internet access and ready to organise…

 ICT4D - Information and Communication Technologies for Development
(Barbara Fillip) Published online by Knowledge for Development, the goal of this "self-paced" course is to familiarise participants with "key concepts and issues related to the potential and real impacts of information and communication technologies [ICTs] on the social, economic and political development of the less developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America."

ICT policy information for beginners

Chosen by our editors, you can visit the information section of the site to find out more.

 Un-copyrighting education
26/12/2008 -- This working paper by Andrew Rens at the Shuttleworth Foundation argues that implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Development Agenda requires a special focus on how intellectual property rights interact with education. It says that the Development Agenda presents the right opportunity to create globally applicable minimum exceptions to copyrights for educational purposes. Dem. Rep. of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe | Intellectual Property

 Free Press: Beginner's Guide to Media Reform
19/06/2005 -- The Beginner's Guide presents an introductory look at media reform for people new to the issue. Why is the media system the way it is? Why is it important to the issues I care about? What's being done to fix it? International | Media

 Primers on Free/Open Source Software (FOSS)
21/01/2005 -- This primer introduces Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), its philosophy, history and benefits/disadvantages of FOSS, including developing-country specific issues. It also contains a brief survey of FOSS initiatives in various governments around the world, legislative or otherwise. Other topics such as localization, licensing and Linux are briefly covered. It is meant as a basic introductory document that can be handed to a person when asked, "what is Free/Open Source?" International | Software

 Concept paper on ICT and intellectual property in Africa
09/11/2004 -- This concept paper was written as an introduction to a discussion on intellectual property rights and ICT in Africa by the Research ICT Africa network. | Intellectual Property

 Linux in schools: some interesting information
15/10/2004 -- A practical guide for teachers who are thinking of implementing free and open source software platforms such as Linux in their classrooms. | Software, Training and Education