Towards an Integrated Information Society Policy in South Africa

An overview of political rhetoric and policy initiatives 1994-2000 South Africa's challenge in the information age is to produce content reflecting the strength of our diverse culture while developing skills and access to access the invaluable resources: knowledge and information. This paper analyses government policy regarding information technology through speeches, policy debate and policy documents in the absence formal policy processes.

Leo van Audenhove holds a Masters Degree in Communication Science from the Free University, Brussels (VUB), and in 2002 he obtained a PhD in the Social Sciences. His thesis was entitled

The Information Society Policy of the South African Government between 1993 and 1999. Since 1994, he has worked as a researcher for Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication (SMIT) at VUB, http://smit.vub.ac. be/. In the framework of a research partnership between SMIT and TNO-STB in Delft, the Netherlands, he currently also works as advisor/researcher at TNO-STB, http://www.stb. tno.nl/. Since 2002, he has been guest professor of International Communications and Information Technology at VUB. His main areas of interest are Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and development, the information society and, more recently, ICTs in relation to transnational civil society.