NICI

National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI) is a country by country planning process for ICT and ICT policy development. The African Information Society Initiative of UNECA coordinates information about NICI continent-wide.

Description

NICI is described as follows on the NICI site:

• A mechanism to implement the global vision of AISI at national level
• A national response to facilitate the digital inclusion of Africa and its integration into the globalization process
• An exercise for developing national ICT policies and strategies and implementable progammes
• A guiding framework for integrating ICTs into national development programmes
• A monitoring and evaluation tool of the role of ICTs in national development - SCAN-ICT

A further description from the NICI site: "AISI states that although African countries are equally placed to take advantage of ICTs to facilitate their socio-economic development process, they cannot hope to move their industrially weak, subsistence economies unless they develop and implement comprehensive integrated ICT-led socio-economic development policies, strategies and plans. The NICIs are sets of steps to be undertaken by government to harness ICTs for development and to implement AISI. These steps include:

1. e-readiness assessment - to undertake baseline studies and to define the general problem and policy areas
2. e-policy - to detail government commitment and strategic direction
3. e-strategies and actions - to detail how policy commitments are translated into concrete programmes and initiatives for implementation.

"Although at different levels of development stages, about thirty-seven African countries are engaged in developing national ICT policies and strategies. Out of these, about twenty-one countries have already completed the process of developing their ICT plans and strategies and are now in the process of mobilising funds for the implementation of various ICT programs and projects." (this is copied with minor edits from the page at http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/about_national_information_and_c.htm which may not have had a recent update)

Links to country NICI plans

Please see the country profile on this wiki that interests you, under 2.3 Policy / Politique, or use the links to the NICI site, below.

You may also use "backlinks" in the column at the left to see what country pages have other mention of NICI plans.

Other levels of strategies, policies & plans related to NICI

AISI has also outlined other local and regional plans as follows:

• SICI - Sectoral Information and Communications Infrastructure
• VICI - Village Information and Communications Infrastructure
• RICI - Regional Information and Communications Infrastructure

Web links

• NICI http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/
• NICI Strategies http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/strategies.htm (includes a diagram of the "NICI Iterative Cycle")
• About NICI Policies & Plans (e-strategies) http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/about_national_information_and_c.htm
• NICI Country Pages http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/nici_country_pages.htm
• NICI Country Profiles (most of the data on these pages are out of date as of 5-2007) http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/country_profiles/nici%20subregion.htm
• NICI in Africa "Developing National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI) Policies, Plans and Strategies: the 'why' and 'how'" (1999) http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/country_profiles/NICI%20in%20Africa.htm