Executive Workshop on Bridging the Digital Innovation Divide: Fostering Digital Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystems

This Executive Workshop aims at building regional and national capacities and skills in

developing digital ecosystems, including designing policies, implementation programmes and projects.

CONCEPT NOTE

Agenda

PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS

REGISTRATION FORM

TOOLKIT FOR STRENGTHENING ICT CENTRIC ECOSYSTEMS

CO-ORGANIZERS

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs. ITU is committed to connecting all the world's people – wherever they live and whatever their means. ITU protects and supports everyone's fundamental right to communicate. The Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D), of which ICPE is an active member, fosters international cooperation and solidarity in the delivery of technical assistance and in the creation, development and improvement of telecommunication and ICT equipment and networks in developing countries.

The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is an all-inclusive, regionally owned and led cooperation framework. This framework engages RCC participants from the South East Europe (SEE), members of the international community and donors on subjects which are important and of interest to the SEE, with a view to promoting and advancing the European and EuroAtlantic integration of the region.

6th Annual International Conference Africa Day

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia

International Center for Promotion of Enterprises

Club of Former Slovenian Ambassadors

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia

International African Forum

present the 6^th annual international conference

AFRICA DAY

The sixth annual international conference Africa day was held on the 18^th and 19^th of May 2017, at the Brdo Congress Centre near Kranj.

This year, in the framework of the conference, three organized panel sessions dealt with the issues of 1) mobility, youth and job creation, 2) economic and cultural networking in Africa and 3) Africa-EU common challenges and shared vision.

The first panel has therefore focused on discussing opportunities to enrich cooperation between Africa and the EU, by mobilising and empowering young people in spheres of politics, economy and science. Youth mobility, promotion and growth is an important current topic for Africa, as well as the EU. With 200 million young people, Africa is the youngest continent in the world. And although the large number of young people represents an opportunity for change and development, with a 60% youth unemployment rate on the continent, the conditions of utilizing their full potentials are, in a large part, left unfulfilled. Structural issues, as well as poor access to education and the labour force still need to be addressed and improved. The panel discussion discussed these issues and tried to find common solutions and opportunities that could benefit both Africa and the EU.

The focus of the second panel was the economic and cultural networking in Africa as an extension of last year’s panel on regional integration. Networking on the fragmented African continent is paramount for closer economic and cultural cooperation and effective policies. The current dire status of economic cooperation could have been caused by relatively small size of African economies, lack of their complementarity, seeming self-sufficiency, modest primary exports, and imports of expensive end products and industrial goods like crude oil and medicines. In addition to that the process of assimilation is generating further tensions between national communities. This panel concentrated on the above mentioned causes of fragmentation and division on the African continent while also attempted to come up with adequate solutions to the pressing issues.

Compared to the last year's conference, where the focus was on the development and integration of African cities and regions, economic cooperation, and African-Slovenian bilateral relations, this year the discussion shifted to broader subjects. Since many African countries are transforming at an unprecedented rate, and considering 7 of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are from Africa, it is understandable that Slovenia, and the EU, begin to examine future (investment) opportunities for economic cooperation with African countries from a new perspective.

Africa day conference was accompanied by a cultural programme from the 17^th to the 19^th of May, the closing ceremony being a musical concert with performers from the Slovenian African diaspora.

Schedule

Day 1 Report

Day 2 Report