NetDiploma: Network for Digital Public Library of Modern Africa

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The rapidly growing population of Africa calls for:1. Education and training vis-à-vis employment of an exploding African youth population; and 2. Sustainable management of human (cultural integration and peaceful coexistence) and natural resources.UNESCO's actions for Flagship programmes 5 and 6 (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002244/224489e.pdf) propose:- "Improve universal access to information and knowledge as well as build capacity in the field of ICT use in Africa" (p.11)- "Promoting universal access and preservation of information and knowledge" (p.13)- "Culture (heritage in all its forms and contemporary creativity) is mainstreamed into public development policies" (p.13)- "Young people made aware of the values of the heritage and mobilized to protect and safeguard it." (p.13)Analysis of the key UN resolutions and policy documents shows the importance of access and sharing of information for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Chowdhury & Koya, In Press). However, information services in Africa face a number of challenges:- common information delivery channels, viz. mass media; information services (libraries); education and training programmes including conferences, workshops etc., benefit only a small section of society (educated and city/urban dwellers) while the majority of the population who live in rural areas cannot reach or use these information services (Uzuegbu, 2016)- libraries in Africa suffer from lack of funds to build an ICT infrastructure, to subscribe to online information resources, and to train personnel (Chisenga, 2015)- management of digital content remains a huge challenge in the public sector as there is no technological infrastructure to manage and provide access to digital information properly; hence millions of digitised archival documents remain inaccessible.Research also shows that mobile access to cultural heritage information services is rapidly increasing in Europe (Nicholas et al, 2013; Liew, 2014). Use of mobile phones is contributing to development in Africa, especially in the rural areas, through internet banking, micro-loans, micro-enterprises, market integration, social mobility, health etc (Cibangu, 2016). Indeed mobile banking has brought a revolution in Africa, and an IMF report (https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2016/afr/eng/sreo0416.htm) recommends that "there is significant potential to replicate the Kenyan experience in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa" [p. 74]. We intend to explore whether this approach can be applied to the delivery of digital information, including cultural heritage information.Bringing together a consortium of academics, researchers and professionals, key local partners such as the national libraries, national archives and universities in three African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi), and international organizations including IFLA, UNESCO, UNECA and the African Union, we will seek to understand the historical, cultural, linguistic, technological and transregional challenges to inform the research and development agenda for building a Digital Public Library of Africa (DPLAf). A bottom-up approach will be taken to explore and prioritise various user needs to complement the ongoing activities in Africa, like the Access to Scientific and Socioeconomic Knowledge in Africa project (http://askia.uneca.org), in order to match the demand and supply of information while preparing a blueprint for the DPLAf for achieveing SDGs in Africa.The network will provide a collaborative vehicle to communicate development needs to the multiple disciplines required to undertake the research and design. It will inform policy and strategy development for providing digital, and wherever possible mobile, access to information for African populations to facilitate education and sustainable development in any sector. Hence it will facilitate the achievement of UN SDG 16.10 (public access to information).