ICT Capacity Development Project (Phases 1 and 2)
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The project aimed to support national ICT policy development, to enable civil servants to apply effective ICTs in meeting the challenges of the transitional government, and to expand ICT skills and access among the general population, particularly women, youth and returnees. It also provided income-generating opportunities via a proposed implementation/roll-out model, designed to directly involve Afghan nationals at all stages of planning, design and implementation while ensuring that policy and institutional frameworks were comprehensively in place.
Contact Person(s): Faqir Kohistani, Programme Office faqir.kohistani@undp.org, Gopi Pradhan, International Project Manager gopi.pradhan@undp.org
PHASE 1
Project Period: July 2002 - July 2004
Partners: Ministry of Communication, Cisco, EC, France (FTF), Microsoft
Project Description
The project had six components:
- establishing ICT training centers
- establishing Tele-kiosks
- developing ICT policy
- establishing a
- establishing a country-code top-level domain (.af)
- providing technical and managerial support to the Ministry of Communications
Achievements
- ICT policy development: ICT policy book developed.
- Training of ICT specialists through the establishment of Cisco Networking Academy Program (CNAP) in
- 14 trainees, of whom five were women, graduated as of the end of July 2004; 255 trainees are currently enrolled in Cisco training centres.
- The Local CNAP has been promoted to a Regional CNAP.
- Establishment of three ICT training centres in
- 1 338 trainees (1 184 men and 154 women) have graduated from the private sectors, assisted by the ICT project.
- Establishment of nine telekiosks in eight post offices and the Kabul Airport to serve as a model for private Internet and e-mail services.
- Government acquired the country code top level domain “.af” and operation of the domain is ongoing.
- Technical and management support to the Ministry of Communication, including staff, training, advisors and logistics, is ongoing.
PHASE 2
Project Period: July 2004 -
Partners: Ministry of Communication, Cisco, EC, France (FTF), Microsoft, USAID
The first phase of the project was completed on 15 July 2004. Plans were developed to exit from the Telekiosks and ICT training components of the project by the end of December 2004, in view of the expanding private-sector activities in these areas. UNDP continues to fund the remaining four activities. The second phase of the project emphasizes capacity building for the Government and advanced ICT training.
Achievements
- Project Document signed by UNDP and the MoC on 5 of September 2004.
- The fundraising meeting of donors was held in close collaboration with MoC.
- US$1 million was allocated and budgeted from the core resources of UNDP for the implementation of the project Phase II.
- Another US$1 million was allocated from the core resources of UNDP to support the District Communications Network (DCN) project. This contribution by UNDP represents an additional component to the project document as a NEX modality of execution by the MoC.
- A subcontractor was selected for conducting the first ICT Conference and an MoU was signed between UNDP and Afghanistan Computer Science Association (ACSA)
Future Priorities
- Build capacity of MoC as a policy maker and regulator through:
- Supporting the National Information and Communication Technology Council of
- Supporting the restructuring of and management of MoC.
- Supporting the establishment of a mechanism for coordination of ICT related international assistance.
- Supporting the updating of ICT Policy and to the development of a concrete action plan to implement the policy.
- Enhance government efficiency through:
- Developing a policy on implementation of e-governance.
- Supporting the establishment of the National Data Centre and building capacity of its staff.
- Providing secure Internet access, including the establishment of NIRA, IXP, SERT and ISP Associations of Afghanistan.
- Build advanced ICT capacity through:
- Training specialists (men & women) in networking and hardware; developing databases and free and open-source software.
- Training demobilized ex-combatants in ICT basic skills.
- Handover of the ICT training centre component of the project to the MoC in April 2005.
- Hold an ICT conference, with appointment of ICT Council members.
Last modified 2006-06-22 03:03 PM
