Hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science and Technology and Supported by the European Commission, IST-Africa 2010 will take place in Durban, 19 - 21 May 2010.

Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2010 is the fifth in an Annual Conference Series which brings together senior representatives from leading commercial, government & research organisations across Africa and from Europe, to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice and discussing policy related issues.

IST-Africa 2010 is also Supported by the South Africa - Finland Knowledge Partnership on ICT project (SAFIPA) and Technically Co-Sponsored by the IEEE South Africa Computer Chapter and the Computer Society of South Africa.

IST-Africa 2010 will focus on the Role of ICT for Africa's Development and specifically on Applied ICT research topics addressing major societal and economic challenges, which is part of the European Commission's Information Communications Technologies (ICT) Theme of FP7. The Conference Programme combines strategic keynote presentations, technical and policy papers, case studies, workshops, an exhibition and social activities.

IST-Africa directly supports the goals of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) and the Consolidated Plan of Action for the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE).

In the context of focusing on the Role of ICT for Africa's Development, the Opening Plenary on Wednesday 19 May will feature a high level dialogue on Implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space. The Closing Plenary on Friday 21 May will focus on Initiatives Supporting Development of Regional S&T.