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IFIP WG 9.4 Working Conference

The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group (WG) 9.4 in collaboration with The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria and the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) is holding its 8th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries in Abuja, Nigeria on May 25-27, 2005. The City of Abuja is the Federal Capital Territory and the capital of Nigeria. It was created in 1976 and officially replaced Lagos as capital in December 1991, after 15 years of planning and construction. The city is located in a scenic valley of rolling grasslands in an ethnically neutral area. Abuja has a very beautiful weather, all year long with exquisite scenery consisting of magnificent hills such as Gwagwa Hills, Chukuku Hills, Agwai hills and the famous Zuma Rock.

The theme of the 2005 conference is Enhancing Human Resource Development through ICT and it will explore issues concerned with building a skilled and adaptable workforce in developing countries (DCs) for the information age. So far we have received excellent research papers, research-in-progress reports, case studies and proposals for tutorials and panel discussions, which discuss various ICT HR capability issues that are relevant for DCs to function effectively in the changing technological and business environment of the 21st Century.

Our keynote speaker is Professor Subhash Bhatnagar. Professor Bhatnagar is currently an e-Government Advisor with the Information Systems Group at the World Bank, Washington DC, USA (on leave from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad). He is the founder and first chairperson of the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) WG 9.4 - Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries from 1989 - 1995. We are extremely delighted to have Professor Bhatnagar as our keynote speaker.

Furtherance to the catalytic role of the IFIP WG 9.4 and as part of our overall plan to continue to improve the relevance of our conferences, we are starting a new associated event at the Abuja conference which is targeted at discussing specific ICT-related issues of importance to, and suggested by, the host. The 2005 conference will focus on the importance of introducing information systems (IS) education in Nigerian higher institutions of learning. In spite of the popularity of IS in Western countries, and its relevance in organizations and businesses, the field is not well understood by academics and professionals in the developing world and Nigeria in particular. This workshop will therefore aim to bring together international IS academics and professionals as well as academics, professionals and policy makers from the host country to discuss the relevance of IS as an academic discipline. We look forward to an extremely stimulating and challenging discussion.

Further information about the conference can be found at: www.ifipwg94.org 

- Abiodun O. Bada

Chair, IFIP WG 9.4

Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering,

The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA

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