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BACKGROUND
Novice Internet surfers as well as information specialists are faced today with the exponential growth of information contents and have at their disposal sophisticated searching tools to find information requested.
But within the multitude of data are both valuable and useless information. The African part of the Internet is experiencing the same situation with some specific problems from the providers' point of view as well as the those looking for information.
One of the UNESCO's objectives, through the Regional Informatics Network for Africa and in support of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), is to facilitate access to information in the public domain, as well as to encourage the diversity of content on the information highways with particular emphasis on African content in the sectors of public concern.
Information consumers are becoming more selective about quality and do not want to loose time on sites offering incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, disorganized or difficultly accessible information. There is a clear need for objective evaluation of African Web sites, especially in the public service sector which has generally lacked the means and recognition to play its appropriate role in content provision in the African Information Highway.
PILOT RINAF - UNESCO WEB COMPETITION 2001 - 2002
The RINAF-UNESCO Web competition was launched during the RINAF meeting held in Accra, Ghana on September 2001.
This competition is aimed at webmasters coming from schools and university institutes, teacher's education schools, universities, secondary and primary schools as well as from the public or private sector. These novice or experienced webmasters will participate in the competition by the presentation of one or more websites that they have designed and implemented themselves.
The competition is scheduled to take place in 3 steps :
- step1 : national level competition : December 2001- March 2002
- step2 : sub-regional level competition (students +institutions):
May 2002- December 2002.
- step3 : regional (continental) level (a broader competition like former Top50)
2003: Results should be ready before the world summit on information society in Geneva (December 2003)
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