The African elections Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org is currently participating in a 2-day Mobile Phone Innovation Conference in Monrovia, Liberia. The conference aims to increase citizens' participation in national dialogues and decision making process.
AEP presented a case study of the 10 different elections across the African continent the Project has covered. Mr. William Sam, Consultant with AEP took the participants through the technical processes of information gathering during elections, data processing and analysis and finally how that information is broadcasted via SMS and other channels such the AEP online portal, email and through other social media platforms.
The Project team also highlighted some specific experiences of using mobile phone technology in elections coverage. Some examples given included the use of mobile applications in educating the public about their civic rights and obligations, SMS usage in covering and monitoring elections, the use of SMS to alert relevant stakeholders about potential violent incidents, citizen journalism and news production.
The conference which will end on Friday the 4th of March 2011 is being attended by Liberian Ministers of State and organizations from both Ghana and Liberia. This conference forms part of a 5year IREX www.irex.org programme in partnership with USAID that seeks to build the capacities of Liberian Civil Society Organisations and the Media with the ultimate objective of promoting peace and democracy in Liberia by the use of technology.
AEP
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