CM/Res.837 (XXXVI)
RESOLUTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INFORMATICS
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty-sixth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 23 February to 1 March, 1981,
Having taken note of documents CM/1100 (XXXVI) on the activities of the OAU in the field of Computer Science and Informatics Education,
Having heard the statement made by the Representative of the Inter-governmental Bureau for Informatics,
Referring to the relevant provisions of the Lagos Plan of Action,
Considering that a new concept of dependence developing in the field of informatics in taking shape according to which developing countries will be more dependant in terms of technological facilities than in terms of production capacity,
Considering that information is a determining factor for development and that the harmonious development of a country depends particularly on the proper use of informatics in its production and service system,
Considering that the informatics systems are vulnerable and that their security and control imply participation in the informatics industry,
Further considering the high cost of investment in informatics:
REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General:
to prepare, in collaboration with the Inter-governmental Bureau for Informatics (ISI), a document on the implementation of the Lagos Plan of Action on strat egies and policies to be adopted in the field of training, acquisition of informatics equipment, software industry and manufacture of central and peripheral units as well as the socio-cultural effects of informatics;
to ensure the participation of the OAU Secretariat in the Inter-governmental Conference to be convened by the Inter-Governmental Bureau of Informatics in Havana, Cuba, and to assert the views of Africa on the need for international financing of African informatics infrastructures and satisfactory international information order – one of the prerequisites for the establishment of a new international economic order;
to urge the OAU Member States which are not yet Members of the Inter - Governmental Bureau for Informatics to examine the possibility of becoming members;
to collaborate with the Director-General of the IBI so as to harmonies programmes in the fields of informatics activities in Africa.