Electronic Communication Initiative

In the evolving age of information technology, the World Wide Web has become the medium of choice for institutions, organizations, companies, and individuals who seek to share information. The Electronic Communication Initiative utilizes the most recent advances in information systems and communications to strengthen the information technological capability of African partner institutions. The strategy for this initiative is to work with selected partner institutions in establishing and/or strengthening their computer communication systems, develop their Internet capacity and connectivitiy, and collaborate on the development of SFPS and partner websites.

To date, SFPS has made great strides in assisting the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Economie Appliquée (ENSEA), an African partner institution, in improving their internal information sharing as well as providing them access to the Word Wide Web. Through the provision of networking and email software, technical support and training, SFPS/Tulane has made internal email available to ENSEA’s community (faculty, staff, and students) and has made possible Internet connectivity through a local service provider. The benefits of this capacity-building effort are that ENSEA faculty, staff and students:

1. now have access to the most up-to-date information through the Internet;
2. can share information easily and more efficiently in-house;
3. can make their research findings and publications widely available to interested parties world-wide; and
4. have the most cost-efficient mechanism to market their services and products regionally and globally.

Additional training is being offered to assist ENSEA in developing and maintaining a webpage which is housed on the SFPS website, with the plan to create a website for ENSEA in FY 1998 and then contract ENSEA to assist other partner institutions in devloping and maintaining their own institutional websites.

SFPS has developed a website to enhance the visibility of the project and open new doors for collaboration with those who learn of our activities via the Internet. The SFPS website provides a central location for all project members and interested parties to access information or to communicate their efforts concerning Family Health Planning and HIV/AIDS in West Africa. The site, www.tulane.edu/~sfps, is hosted by Tulane University servers and is continuously updated to remain abreast of project developments. The site includes information on new and ongoing interventions, studies, and conferences, as well as background information on the SFPS cooperating agencies and their African partners.

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