Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

After successfully pioneering an online course in ICT Journalism in 2006, The International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Journalism Penplusbytes second online course took place in 2007. Participants from Africa, Asia, North America Europe and Australia have taken advantage of this unique learning opportunity to grow their knowledge of ICT Journalism. We are pleased to announce the 3rd Global Online Course in ICT Journalism (April 20 to July 20 2010). Course details are provided below : Course Objective : Participants will be exposed to the wider context of ICTs assisted journalism including its history, how these technologies are impacting on the world of journalism, how ICT can be used in producing stories and how to manage change process in using innovative ICT tools. Course Description and Goals: This course teaches the theory and concept of ICTs journalism; the impact of ICTs on Journalism and how to increase excellence in journalism us...

It used to be simpler: If you want to maximize online ad revenue, don't even think about charging for your content. But several speakers at Friday's paidContent conference said that the relationship is becoming less black and white. And some, notably FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw, argued that paid content can actually increase online ad revenue. " There's no tradeoff between having a subscription business and an ad business," Grimshaw said. "The more registered and paid subscribers, the more successful the advertising that results." FT.com, the online edition of the Financial Times newspaper, has become the standard-bearer for the so-called metered approach to charging for online content that The New York Times and others plan to adopt. FT.com users can read a few articles each month before they're asked to register, and 10 articles before they're asked to buy a subscription. Grimshaw said FT.com has 1.9 million registered users and...

On Thursday 28th January, Kwami Ahiabenu II will facilitate a Focuss.Info workshop in Ghana at the Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (INSTI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Accra which is based on an award granted by the Focuss.Info Initiative. The workshop is expected to be attended by a cross session of professionals from academia, research, NGOs and Information and Communication Technologies sector. After a successful Focuss.Info workshop in South Africa, this will become the second workshop in which a local workshop facilitator in Africa, Asia or South America aims at promoting new information and communication (ICT) skills among peers in the domain of global development research and cooperation. As a result, the Initiative improves access to information, a fundamental right that strengthens democracy, and supports human rights. The objective of Focuss.Info also correspondents to the work of UNESCO, which helps to develop effective ...

Together with my colleague, Jeremiah Sam we are writing four articles on 1) mobile phones and development 2) community radio 3) youth and media 4) microblogging and social websites for publishing to audiencescapes visit audiencescapes website later this month to read these stories from Ghana.

2008 and 2009 saw us covering elections in 6 countries namely 1.Ghana 2. Malawi 3. Mozambique 4. Mauritania 5. Namibia 6. Botswana with pending elections in 7. Guinea 8. Cote d'lvoire African Elections Project (AEP) is aiming at covering 10 countries in 2010. Using ICTs powered by the media,  AEP is helping in the democratic process on the continent

I presented a paper at  COLLOQUIUM ON AFRICAN ELECTIONS: BEST PRACTICES AND CROSS SECTORAL COLLABORATION from November 11-14, 2009 at Accra-Ghana, press release below ACCRA, GHANA – More than 100 practitioners and experts on elections from 25 African countries will convene in Accra Nov. 12-14, to assess recent elections across the continent and develop recommendations for standards that could mitigate conflict and improve election processes. Recommendations from the colloquium will be aimed at enhancing prospects for credible elections in Africa by heightening standards of professionalism among election administration officials, political parties, civic groups, security services and the media. The Colloquium on African Elections: Best Practices and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration will focus on Ghana's 2008 elections, which were universally viewed as credible despite heated political tensions and a razor-thin margin between the candidates. Participants hop...

  November 11-14, 2009 Accra, Ghana   The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will co-sponsor   a Colloquium on African Elections from 12 ‐ 14 November 2009 in Accra, Ghana.     The colloquium will review the challenges and best practices in the conduct of elections in Africa, with a particular focus on lessons that could be shared from Ghana's 2008 electoral process.   Approximately 100 participants from 25 African countries will attend the colloquium.   Participants will include elections commissioners, political party leaders, civic advocates, leaders of elections monitoring groups, journalists and high level officials of security services that oversee peace building and law enforcement missions around elections.   The Colloquium on Af...

GABORONE Botswana, October 15 2009 – African Elections Project To Cover Botswana Elections 2009. The African Elections Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org/bostwana will be covering Botswana's 10 th general election, taking place on October 16 2009, to elect parliamentary and council representatives.   AEP in conjunction with its partners, Media Institute For Southern Africa (MISA) www.misa.org   held a two-day workshop aimed at equipping journalists with cutting edge Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) skills in elections coverage in Gaborone on 28-29 September 2009. AEP was established in 2008 to empower journalists to cover elections using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across the continent. After a successful take-off in Ghana, Cote d' Ivoire, Mozambique, Malawi and Guinea, AEP also launched its Namibia phase of the project in Windhoek on 13th October 2009. In Southern Africa, AEP is covering Botswana www.africanelections.org/b...

African Elections Project Elections are crucial bedrock for democracies and enabling a free and open society.  The role of the media in ensuring successful election is  very crucial.  All over the world the media is playing this important role of ensuring free and fair elections by working with all stakeholders across board. The media can strengthen the electoral process by providing independent information through impartial coverage. Three important elements come into play: access to information on the political process, ability to undertake investigate journalism and document lessons and experiences from the electioneering process.   There are a lot of challenges and problems facing the media in the area of election coverage. Key among them is lack of access to real-time information, lack of capacity to undertake investigative journalism surrounding elections, use of ICTs in coverage,  inability to produce balanced reports and to incorporate user content are some o...

Speaking at highway africa part of "Reporting Democracy: Media and Elections in Africa" panel scheduled for Tuesday, 8 September, 2009 : Anchor: Professor Jane Duncan Izak Minnaar, Head: News Research, SABC Kwami Ahiabenu,II Director, Penplusbytes Kubi Rama, Deputy Director, Gender Links Manoah Esipisu, Deputy Director, Communications & Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth William Bird, Executive Director, Media Monitoring Africa this year's theme is Reporting Africa – 2010, Development & Democracy and the event takes place from  5-8 September 2009 at  Eden Grove Complex, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

The university of Ghana, School of Communications is hosting next week from Tuesday 11th to Thursday 13 August 2009, African Communications Educators under the umbrella of The African Council for Communication Education (ACCE). According to ACCE website it is a  non-profit-making non-governmental organization was formed 1975 with funding and support from UNESCO. Initially, it acted as an association of Heads of Schools of Journalism and Communication on the African continent. The association later transformed itself into the only regional organization of Africanist communication scholars and practitioners in Africa. Currently, its headquarters is located in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference topics are very interesting, highlights below :  Plenary 1 – Communication And Democracy Plenary 2 – Communication Theory Plenary 3 – Professional Development, Training & Standards Acce Business Day Plenary 1 – Getting Published In The Africa Media Review : Processes And Prospects Plenary...

KS/KM in a World Of Change - An Open KM4Dev Community Gathering, Brussels, October 6-8, 2009 We are in a time of significant global change. Climate change impacts agriculture, water, health and other development areas. Global financial crises affect the poor and everything they need. How can knowledge sharing and knowledge management help us address these complex and interrelated issues? Join us for three days of thinking and working together on these issues at the 2009 KM4Dev annual gathering. Over the three days, we will have both separate theme focused conversations and then we will weave them together to think about the role of KM/KS separately and collectively. Pre-workshop - October 5 Side meetings: IKM-Emergent IKM-Emergent_francophone_discussion Francophone CoP Francophone_KM4DEV_CoP_discussion Welcome to KM4Dev!!! An introduction to the community for newcomers Evening plan: for those who arrive before 8pm, dinner reservations will be made at La Gioconda [1] Day ...

COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE Un atelier de formation sur la couverture des élections en utilisant les techniques de l'information et de la communication (TIC) a été organisé le 9 juillet 2009 dans les locaux de l'Université Virtuelle Africaine à Nouakchott en Mauritanie à l'intention d'une trentaine de journalistes provenant de tous les médias mauritaniens. Le séminaire organisé par l'Institut international des journalistes TIC ''Penplusbytes'' en collaboration avec le soutien de Open Society Initiative for West Africa visait à renforcer les capacités des journalistes afin qu'ils puissent couvrir de façon efficace les prochaines élections dans le pays, grâce aux TIC. Le jour de cette table ronde, les journalistes issus de la télévision, de la radio, de la presse en ligne, de la presse et des radios communautaires ont eu droit a des communications sur ''le cadre légal des élections'', ''l'organisation pratique des élections...

Our African Elections Project(AEP) is growing and we are happy to add http://www.africanelections.org/mauritania/ to our vision of creating an online space for elections information and knowledge in Africa enjoy your visit to the great African Elections online resource

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.       Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)

Internet fraudsters operating in the 'sakawa' underworld are said to have deeply penetrated some money transfer outlets with enticing offers to enable them to retrieve large sums of money sent to them by their victims abroad. A case in point is a lady attendant at one of the transfer outlets in Accra alleged to have been compromised by 'sakawa' boys with huge sums of money in 'kickbacks' in lieu of the presentation of correct documents for the collection of their remittances. The attendant (name withheld) allegedly collects 10 per cent of the amounts involved from 'sakawa' boys who present code numbers and their personal identity cards to collect money in the name of females and 20 per cent from those who do not present identity cards. The system of money transfer requires the recipient to produce a code number from' the sender and recipient's national identification, such as passport, driving licence or voter ID card, in order to redeem the m...

  The International Institute for ICT Journalism, based in Ghana, has launched the first ever elections project for Malawi. The president of the institute, Kwami Ahiabenu, says it's designed to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology tools (ICTs) in generating election information. The International Institute for ICT Journalism, based in Ghana, has launched the first ever elections project for Malawi. The president of the institute, Kwami Ahiabenu, says it's designed to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology tools (ICTs) in generating election in...

African Elections Project launched in Malawi  Across Africa, elections are now becoming the de facto means of selecting political leaders; however, there is a dearth of elections information and knowledge online. As a means of contributing to resolve this problem, the African Elections Project was conceived to provide coverage of elections using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across the continent. After a successful take-off in Ghana, Cote d' lvoire and Guinea, the African Elections Project (AEP) launched its Malawi phase of the project in Blantyre on 6 th May 2009. The Malawi project has the following key components :   Training for senior editors, journalists and reporters; development and dissemination of an election guide for the media, an SMS/Mobile application in election coverage and monitoring; information and knowledge Online Portal ( www.africanelectio...

Thirty (30) West African Newspaper and Magazine Designers from both Francophone and Anglophone speaking West African countries are meeting at the Universite d'Abomey Calavi, Campus Numerique Francophone de Cotonou in Benin for the 2nd West African Communication Design Workshop. Thirty (30) West African Newspaper and Magazine Designers from both Francophone and Anglophone speaking West African countries are meeting at the Universite d'Abomey Calavi, Campus Numerique Francophone de Cotonou in Benin for the 2nd West African Communication Design Workshop. Opening the workshop, Guy Constant Ehoumi, deputy president of Union des Professionnels des Medias du Benin - UPMB (Journalists Union of Benin) said they are pleased to welcome participants from West African countries to Contonou for the workshop and asked the participants to take advantage of this unique training opportunity to learn more about how to improve the design and layout of their various publications. The workshop which...