The 7th International Conference on Open Access (to communication resources)
www.wideopenaccess.net will be held in Accra Ghana from 1-3 November 2009 and all are invited to contribute your experiences.

The conference is expected to make a difference by raising awareness about:

• The role that African universities will have in the development of their countries into knowledge societies, if and only if they can join the global research and higher education community on equal terms as their peers on other continents.
• The prerequisites that will have to be fulfilled in terms of policy, regulation and transformation of the communication market.
• The potential socio-economic outcome if the prerequisites are fulfilled
• Possible ways forward to make it all happen in West and Central Africa

The first day (Sunday) is reserved for the launch of the West and Central African Research Education Network (WACREN) expected to connect the emerging  national broadband networks dedicated to research and higher education in W&C Africa to eachother and to global research and education resources via direct academic peering with networks like UbuntuNet Alliance in South and Eastern Africa, EUMedConnect in North Africa, Géant in Europe, Internet2 and CANARIE in North America, RedClara, in Latin America TEIN in South, East and South East Asia, etc.

The second and third day will focus on the socio-economic development that the universities can be expected to boost, experiences from how this has been accomplished in other subregions and the potential in West and Central Africa.

Important dates are:-
Submissions are due on: 31st August, 2009
Notification on Papers: 15th September, 2009
Final Submission of Papers: 15th October, 2009

More information here