Policy and Planning

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Program Title Decision Makers Program
Type of Program Policy and Planning
Training Modality Annual 3-day in-country conference for 40+ administrators.
Description

This annual three-day workshop introduces decision makers to the wide variety of issues they face when digitizing their campuses.

Participants hear presentations from other partner university administrators who have successfully implemented ICT changes in their institutions. Such topics include

  • Grant-writing
  • Staffing
  • Teaching with technology
  • Management information systems
  • Computer networking
  • Systems analysis
  • Management of technical change

Everyone receives references like Nicholas Negroponte's "Being Digital" and Educause's "Preparing Your Campus for a Networked Future" as well as the WiderNet Project's "Decision Makers Resource Library" on CD.  This CD contains over 6,000 recently-published books, articles and Web pages pertaining to ICT in higher education and developing countries.
Background Information The most influential factor in adaptation of information technology at an institution is the enthusiasm and vision of it's leaders. Our partners agree that the Decision Makers program has helped guide their leaders to be more effective. With guidance from experts across the field, the WiderNet Project teaches the essential tools for building a sustainable IT infrastructure on your campus.

"What we need are more ideas," says Silas Lwakabamba, rector of the 18-month-old Kigali Institute of Science, Technology, and Management, in Rwanda. "We have some advisers, but they represent commercial companies. They are looking after their own profit and do not serve us very well."

From "Wiring African Universities Proves a Formidable Challenge"
by Andrea Useem, Chronicle of Higher Education,  April 2, 1999