On monday the international regulatory body for Web architecture (ICANN), met to discuss expanding the list of top level domain names and a new generation of Internet protocol addresses (IPv6.

According to the chairman Peter Thrush "thousand individuals from all over the world convening in Cartagena to adopt fundamental decisions on the biggest issues facing the Internet industry on a global scale"
Every device connecting to the Internet needs an IP address and Thrush said ICANN's board meeting was to help prepare the transition from IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) to IPv6, which already exists but is rarely used

Less than 150 million IPv4 addresses are still available, and "will come to an end by mid-2011, which necessitates an urgent adoption of a new generation of the respective protocols," he said.

During its meeting here, ICANN is also expected to discuss expanding the list of what are known as generic top level domains such as .com, .net and .org.

Thrush said an expansion of domain names would herald "the beginning of a new era of change for completion of the map of the Internet."

An interim board that will head the transitional body of the newly-merged Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council was sworn in yesterday.

The board is tasked with streamlining the content in broadcasting houses to suit the interests of the consumers.

The eight-member board appointed by ICT minister Aggrey Awori is headed by Dr. Dorothy Okello.

The board will serve for one year and will oversee the drafting of new laws that will harmonise the activities of the UCC and the Broadcasting Council.
Awori said the merger would not lead to any sackings.

“All the staff under contract will remain, but will now be headed by Eng. Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director,” he said.
Mutabazi said Uganda was the last East African state to merge the two bodies.

Other board members are Dr. Catherine Omaswa, Maria Kiwanuka, Eng. Abdul Omoding, Eng. Miriam Kawuma, Eng. Charles Lwanga and Edgar Tabaro.

The International Telecommunication Union requires all member states to switch from analogue terrestrial to digital broadcasting services by 2015.

From New Vision

Service to provide fast, easy, reliable remittances to MTN MobileMoney users anytime, anywhere
MTN Group, the leading mobile operator in Africa and the Middle East, and Western Union, a leader in global payment services, have announced a commercial agreement to introduce international mobile remittance services in the 21 countries where MTN operates, starting with Uganda.

Once introduced, the service will allow MTN subscribers to conveniently send and receive Western Union Money Transfer® transactions using their MTN MobileMoney accounts.
In Uganda MTN’s MobileMoney service already boasts more than 1 million registered users, making it one of the most successful mobile wallet deployments in the world. A World Bank report released yesterday revealed that Uganda receives nearly US$800 million in remittances every year, making up 3% of the country’s GDP.
"Uganda has been chosen as the first country to roll out this partnership following the massive success of MTN Mobile Money. The MTN Mobile Money service has made a significantly positive impact to the lives of millions of Ugandans in many ways, and this partnership with Western Union will do even more. The World Bank reckons that up to $773million will be transferred into Uganda this year, and we know that MTN Mobile Money access will increase the number of people in Uganda receiving money by Western Union, and will also increase financial inflows into the country from abroad," said MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer, Themba Khumalo.

When the new international remittance service is activated, MTN subscribers registered for MobileMoney will be able to receive Western Union Money Transfer transactions in their mobile accounts. In addition, MobileMoney users in certain countries will be able to send Western Union Money Transfer transactions directly from their mobile phones for payout at one of Western Union’s 386,000 Agent locations in 200 countries and territories around the world.
An MTN subscriber who receives a Western Union Money Transfer transaction in his MobileMoney account will be able to use the funds to pay bills, top-up airtime, send money domestically and internationally, or withdraw cash at MobileMoney Agents or any participating ATM.

“The Western Union Mobile Money Transfer service is a key part of our multi-channel strategy to offer our consumers numerous ways to send and receive money,” said Khalid Fellahi, Western Union’s Head of Mobile Transaction Services. “This alliance with MTN – one of the world’s most successful mobile operators – will introduce cross-border remittances to an entirely new segment of customers by allowing them to send and receive money using just their mobile phones.”
Pieter Verkade, MTN Executive of MobileMoney, said, “After bringing domestic financial services to many of our customers, we will now enable customers to receive money from abroad on their mobile phones to take out at their convenience with their local merchant, send it to family or pay a bill.”

MTN’s MobileMoney service is currently available in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, with pilots underway in several other markets. The service offers consumers a convenient, secure and affordable way to send money within the same country (domestically), buy airtime and make basic utility payments using their MTN mobile phones. MTN offers the service in partnership with local banks.
Western Union offers the Mobile Money Transfer service in the Philippines with Smart Communications and Globe Telecom; in Kenya with Safaricom; and in Malaysia with Maxis. The company also recently announced an agreement with EnStream in Canada and State Bank of India in India and has other agreements for Mobile Money Transfer with banks in Tunisia, Libya and South Africa.

The 2010 edition of the World e-Parliament Conference has officially opened at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) with delegates from eighty (80) parliaments and five continents attending. The conference is aimed at sensitizing parliaments across five continents on the need to use modern technology to help improve communication with their constituents, particularly at the grassroots.

Thomas Stelzer, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-agency Affairs of the United Nations stressed the need for national parliaments to use information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool to reach out to the less privileged people for the betterment of their countries. He indicated that the use of technology has helped tremendously in the improvement of some major sectors of the economy, hence the need for parliaments to make judicious use of it.

Hon. Ntlhoi Motsamai, Speaker of the National Assembly of Lesotho, who represented the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), on her part noted that the IPU is providing the link for advanced parliaments to work with the less advanced ones. She urged the Global Centre for ICT in Parliaments and the Office for the Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy to do more to bring a better corporation between parliaments and donors, so that the citizenry can be the beneficiary.

The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces of South Africa, Hon. Mninwa Mahlangu, indicated that parliaments, as part of their law making functions, must ensure that they work for the interest of the people they represent. That, according to him, can be best done through the efficient utilization of ICT services. He lamented that in Africa a lot of people are not using ICT because of various infrastructural difficulties that need to be addressed.

The President of the Pan-African Parliament, Hon. Dr. Moussa Idriss Ndélé, welcomed all delegates to the conference and wished them fruitful deliberations. He added that technological advances have led to changes in the political, economic and cultural sphere in both the advanced and the developing worlds. Hon. Ndélé however noted that there were still problems facing African parliaments, such as low technological literacy. He called on the United Nations to help in resolving these problems in order for these parliaments to play a bigger role in the promotion of democracy.

In their keynote addresses, Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration of the Republic of South Africa, Hon. Radhakrishna Padayachie, and Senior Advisor of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliaments, Jeffrey Griffith, talked about the importance of parliaments moving with time as far as technology is concerned. Padayachie said ICT is a vital instrument that can move government to respond faster to the needs of its people. He added that the e-parliament conference presents unique opportunities to the nations to learn and exchange ideas and views on ICT.
From: IT NEWs AFRICA

The 18th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has opened in Mexico where Uganda has intensified its campaign to get a seat the in Region D (Africa) Council.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference that opened in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Executive Director of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), Mr Patrick Mwesigwa, said he is confident that Uganda would return to ITU Council for Region D (Africa).

Uganda last served on the ITU Council in 2002 to 2006. Presently, twenty African countries are contesting for the 13 seats allocated to the region.
The Ugandan delegation has intensified its lobbying for support at the ongoing event, which is taking place at the Guadalajara Expo Centre from October 4-22.

The delegation includes senior officials from UCC and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT), and is led by the Minister for ICT, Hon. Aggrey Awori who is expected to address the Conference on October 8, 2010, ahead of the ITU elections.

At least 2,000 delegates, participants from some 190 ITU Member States, Sector Members and observer organisations, including over 80 Ministers, 40 Deputy Ministers, and 40 ambassadors, are attending the three week event, hosted by Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport.

The Plenipotentiary meets every four years to decide on strategy for ITU – an agency of the United Nations for Information and Communications Technology (ICT). ITU is responsible for allocating global radio spectrum, creating the technical standards that fuel all ICT networks, and developing and implementing strategies to bridge the digital divide.

Held every four years, the event sets the strategic direction of the organisation and proposes new policies and recommendations that reflect the changing needs of its membership.

During the opening ceremony, Mexican President Hon. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa said telecommunication was an indispensable tool to achieve justice and equality whilst outlining his government’s strategies and programmes to bridge the digital divide and ensure that “those who have the least have access to telecommunications.”

The ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, urged delegates to be “bold and visionary” in reaching agreements that will provide a sound platform for the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and services for the decade ahead.

Dr Touré called upon delegates to “imagine, to innovate, and to create a bright, long-term future for the ICT sector.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a speech delivered by ITU Deputy Secretary-General Mr Zhao, told delegates to work in developing the next generation of communications networks, ensuring cybersecurity, and putting the power of ICT networks to good use in disaster relief and mitigation is vitally important to us all.

Delegates are expected to discuss a number of issues, ranging from cyber-security, Internet addressing, international telecommunication regulations, broadband access, ICT and climate change, and the enhanced use of ICT in mitigating climate change and delivering emergency communication in the wake of natural disasters.
From AFIK-NEWS