eAfrica 2010 - 1st International ICST Conference on e-services for Agriculture, Food, Environment and Life Sciences in Africa

e-AFRICA 2010

1st International ICST Conference on e-services
for Agriculture, Food, Environment and Life Sciences in Africa

8-10 September 2010, Johannesburg, South Africa

www.eafricaconference.org

CALL FOR PAPERS

SPONSORS

Sponsored by ICST
Technically co-sponsored by CREATE-NET

***

SCOPE

The conference will focus on the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use Information and Communication Technologies in the rural domain. The conference will, among others, explore the environmental impact of e-agriculture in the improvement and more efficient use of natural resources and exploitation of their potential towards a sustainable growth that best matches the needs of Africa. At this event current trends in the fields of agroecology and organic agriculture and the way these can be supported through e-agriculture, as well as particular applications and case studies that meet the needs of the African continent will be presented and discussed. In parallel, impacts that the use of e-services can have in the field of food, earth and life sciences, taking into account the particularities of Africa, will be evaluated.

The conference will bring together scientists, government agencies, technology developers, engineers and non-governmental organizations in an attempt to create a platform to exchange ideas and best practices on the implementation of e-services for agriculture, food, environment and life sciences, with emphasis on e-agriculture initiatives worldwide.

The event will include plenary sessions with distinguished keynote presentations and panel discussions with leading experts on cross-domain issues.

***

TOPICS

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following focus areas:

* ICT and Organic Agriculture/Agroecology

* On-line trading of agricultural products

* Supporting agricultural education/training through ICT

* Raising awareness on environmental issues through the use of web technologies

* Monitoring and decision support systems for environmental protection

* ICT support for earth sciences

* Improving quality of life in rural areas through ICT

* Robotics and automation systems in agriculture and environmental protection

* Web and mobile services for environmental/agricultural issues

* Enhancing chain management and traceability in the agriculture chain through novel technologies

* ICT adoption in Africa

***

PUBLICATION

Accepted papers will be published by Springer in the Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering (LNICST) series.

***

SUBMISSION

Detailed submission and formatting instructions are available at http://www.eafricaconference.org/submission.shtml

***

IMPORTANT DATES

Paper submission deadline: 2 April 2010
Notification of acceptance: 3 May 2010
Camera-ready deadline: 4 June 2010

***

WORKSHOP

A pre-conference workshop will be organized on 8 September 2010, on Acceptable and Practical Precision Livestock Farming by BrightAnimal. For further information, please visit the event website.

***

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

General Chair

Alexander B. Sideridis
Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Technical Program Chair

Charalampos Z. Patrikakis
Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

For a complete list of committee and board members, please visit http://www.eafricaconference.org/committees.shtml