The eI4Africa and iMENTORS partnerships are very pleased to welcome a new associated organisation to the eI4Africa/iMentors joint conference on the theme “e-Infrastructures for Africa: Gateways to the Future” that will take place on October 29, 2014, in Brussels, Belgium, at Hotel Bloom. Click here to register!

Established in 2010, the FTTH Council Africa is an independent, not for profit organisation and active member of the Fibre Council Global Alliance (FCGA) alongside the FTTH Council Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Middle East and North Africa. 
The work of the individual FTTH Council’s is funded through member contributions, and the FCGA has more than 550 individual member companies, all equally passionate about FTTH.

The FTTH Council Africa believes that the development and deployment of fibre based broadband access networks will enhance the quality of life for citizens in South Africa and Africa as a whole, providing African countries with an infrastructure which will increase their effectiveness and competitiveness within the global marketplace.

The “e-Infrastructures for Africa: Gateways to the Future” Conference will be held in Brussels on October 29, 2014 at the Hotel Bloom. This major Africa-EU event in the field of e-Infrastructures is jointly organised by the eI4Africa project (coordinated by Sigma Orionis) and the iMentors project under the aegis of European Commission (DG CONNECT) and the African Union Commission (AUC).

The conference aims at bringing together policy-makers and research stakeholders from both regions to discuss major developments and perspectives in the field of Africa-EU e-Infrastructure cooperation. The conference will be framed around the following themes:

• Status and perspectives of e-Infrastructures in Europe and in Africa;
• Potential of e-Infrastructures for African Research and Education;
• Research and Education Networks Deployment in Africa;
• Science Gateways and e-Science platforms;
• Flagship e-Infrastructure services in the Health, Environment and Education sectors;
• Societal impact and benefit of e-Infrastructure applications;
• African e-Infrastructures data mapping;
• Considerations on how to establish and sustain African communities of e-Infrastructure users;
• ICT investments in Africa;