INFORMATION ETHICS IN AFRICA
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE ACTIVITIES
(2011-2014)
Rafael Capurro
International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE)
Contribution to the WSIS+10 High-Level Event, Session:
C10 Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society Information Ecologies, Social Transformations, Ethics and
Policy (UNESCO), Geneva, Switzerland, June 12, 2014.
Introduction

Since the first African Conference on
Information Ethics Information Ethics
in Africa that took place in Pretoria
(South Africa) on February 5-7, 2007,
the field of Information Ethics has been
growing dynamically as my former
report on Information Ethics in Africa
2007-2010 shows.
Capurro, IE in Africa
2
Introduction

In the last three and a half years several
conferences have taken place and books have
been published based on the passionate work of
the staff of the 2012 created African Centre of
Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE) at
the Department of Information Science, University
of Pretoria (South Africa), particularly of his head,
Mr Coetzee Bester, as well as of the head of the
department, Prof. Theo Bothma.
Capurro, IE in Africa
3
Introduction

The creation of this centre is, indeed,
an outstanding event for the promotion
of Information Ethics in Africa. The
ACEIE has organized a lot of meetings
and workshops on ethical issues of
ICT not only in South Africa but
accross the continent as well.
Capurro, IE in Africa
4
Introduction

In this report, In this report, I will refer only to some
workshops and conferences co-organized by the
Department of Communications of South Africa
under the patronage of UNESCO, as well as by the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the
International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE)
and the Capurro Fiek Foundation (CFF).
See: http://www.capurro.de/WSIS2014.html
See also the former report on IE in Africa (2007-2010)
http://www.capurro.de/wsis2010_africa_infoethics.html
Capurro, IE in Africa
5
Conferences

The Third African Information Ethics
Conference on Ethics and Social Media was
held in Pretoria, South Africa, 5-7
September 2012, under the auspices of
UNESCO, sponsored by the South African
Government, Department of
Communications and organized by
the University of Pretoria, the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the International
Center of Information Ethics
Capurro, IE in Africa
6
… Conferences
Capurro, IE in Africa
7
… Conferences

The Capurro-Fiek-Foundation (CFF)
together with the African Centre of
Excellence for Information Ethics
(ACEIE), Department of Information
Science, University of Pretoria had the
pleasure to present the second ANIE (Africa
Network for Information Ethics) Award to
Prof. Stephen Mutula (University of
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) for his
outstanding support of information ethics
in Africa
Capurro, IE in Africa
8
… Conferences
Capurro, IE in Africa
9
… Conferences
The 14th Information Studies (IS) Annual
Conference on Information Ethics in Africa, was
organized by the University of Zululand,
Department of Information Studies (South Africa), 47 September, 2013.
See the proceedings "Information Ethics in Africa"
ed. by Denis Ocholla and Janneke Moskert,
University of Zululand, 2013, ISBN 978-0-62045757-6.
Capurro, IE in Africa
10
… Conferences
Capurro, IE in Africa
11
… Conferences
Capurro, IE in Africa
12
… Conferences
Africa Network for Information Ethics
(ANIE): 4th International Conference on
Information Ethics (2014)
The theme: Information Ethics in Africa - cross
cutting themes for managing your digital life.
Venue: Metropole Hotel at Plot 51, Windsor in
Kampala, Uganda between 2 and 4 July
2014
Capurro, IE in Africa
13
… Conferences
Pre-Conference Workshop (2 July 2014):
will focus on matters related to the development
and implementtion of the curriculum to teach
Information Ethics in Africa. All universities that form
part of the project to implement the proposed
curriculum to teach Information Ethics in Africa will
be expected to present a formal report on 1) What
has been done and achieved up until now and 2)
what are you planning to do.
Capurro, IE in Africa
14
… Conferences
Conference (3 July 2014)
Information Ethics Colloquium
Topics:
IE and Philosophy (R. Capurro)
IE and Research (J. Britz, Stephen Mutula)
IE and Teaching (Dennis Ocholla)
IE and e-Governance (DDG Ms Reneva
Tourie and Ms Nozipho Sihlahla)
Capurro, IE in Africa
15
… Conferences
Theme discussions (4 July 2014)
Session 1:
Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in:
- Academic life
- Personal life
- Business life
Session 2:
Cybercrime and identity theft in
- Academic life
- Personal life
- Business life
Session 3:
Privacy in Social Media in:
- Academic life
- Personal life
- Business life
Capurro, IE in Africa
16
Publications
Concepts in Information Ethics. An introductory
workbook.
Eds. Candice le Sueur, Erin Hommes and Coetzee
Bester. Pretoria 2013 (ISBN 978-1-920527-84-6).
The book was produced by Hercules Boshoff, Rachel
Bothma, Erin Hommes and Candice le Sueur. It
was published by the African Centre of Excellence
for Information Ethics, Department of Information
Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Capurro, IE in Africa
17
… Publications
Information Ethics in Africa: Crosscutting themes ed. by Dennis
Ocholla, Johannes Britz, Rafael
Capurro and Coetzee Bester.
Published by the African Centre for
Information Ethics, Department of
Information Science, University of
Pretoria, South Africa, 2013 (ISBN
978-1-920527-65-5)
Capurro, IE in Africa
18
… Publications
Innovation. Journal of appropriate
librarianship and information work
in Southern Africa. Special Issue:
Information Ethics
No. 46, June 2013
ed. by Stephen Mutula
Capurro, IE in Africa
19