September 4,2008 (Addis Ababa) The community based ICT centers established in the Eastern parts of Ethiopia with the financial and material support provided by the Information and Communication Technology Assisted Development Project have been officially launched in the presence of regional government officials and community leaders.

Accordingly, the Harar Vision Net,   the Jijiga Net Community Information Center  and the  Gurmad  Relief and Development  Association  set up in the Harari and Somali national regional states and the Dire Dawa provisional administrative council have been inaugurated and begun rendering services with an affordable price to the beneficiaries  respectively.

Chief administrator of the Harari national regional state Murad Abdulhadi said on the occasion that establishing  community driven  facilities  such  as   the vision net  could greatly contribute to the efforts carried out at a national level.

He said the regional government would do its level best   to provide assistance to the requests that would take into account the needs and priorities of the communities who have been marginalized from the use of ICT.

The communities who have been experiencing  diverse social and economic challenges need urgent attentions form the stakeholders willing to engage in positive ways, he said, adding  that the regional government  was committed to  use ICT for the effective application of  various activities.

Harar town being one of the historical heritages of the world and recognized by the UNESCO should be easily accessible for those who wanted to know more about its historical and sociological significances.

He noted that the region as a melting pot has been always sighted as proverbial where the various nations and nationalities live in peace and harmony, adding the role of ICT is even more important to bring these people closer to the international scene.

In a related development, the Jijiga Net Community Information Center   was also operational as of the end of August 2008.

The establishment of this facility in the area was believed to be instrumental in providing various services to the local people who were not able to get one in their nearby.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony a representative from the region's agriculture and rural development bureau said utmost efforts would be exerted to provide market information for the pastoralist communities who have been desperately in need of accurate information about the price of cattle.

He said the Jijiga area, which is inhabited by the pastoralist communities' need the support of the center for timely information as their livelihoods are entirely dependant on livestock development. The establishment of the ICT center in the area could be seen as a step in the right direction where most of the people are unaware about what is happening near and far.

Meanwhile, it was also at about the same time that the Gurmad Relief and Development Association   community based ICT center in Dire Dawa town was also made ready to the benefit of the local people.

The cross-section of the society in Dire Dawa felt isolated from the global community as establishing connections and accessing to the internet is too expensive and far beyond from what they could afford. But now the establishment of the ICT center in their doorsteps could enable them to establish contacts and serf the internet to add value to their personalities and communicate to people of their choices wherever they are.

Tessema Geda manger of the ICTAD project, who witnessed the official launching of the facility, pledged the continued support of the project until such time that the center is self supportive and stands on its own feet.

He said in the era of globalization where boundaries have become literally meaningless, it is hardly possible to live in an "island", adding that the federal government has shown its commitment to the development of ICT in the country by allocating a huge resource from the national coffer and introducing polices and procedures that have not been there previously.

Tessema also urged the communities to develop a great sense of ownership over the facility and to look after it as the center was financed by loan money secured from the World Bank in which case we all are liable for repaying the debt  weather willing or unwilling.

Coordinator of the German Development Service (ded) technical advisors assigned to the various ICT regulatory institutions in Ethiopia, Guenter Ozdyk said on the occasion that the effective application of ICT for developing countries like Ethiopia could be imperative to achieve developing objectives of the country in the short possible term.

Mr Ozdyk who was involved since the beginning of the project said he was happy to see while he is here that one of the community based ICT centers in Dire Dawa has become operational.

Mr Ozdyk stressed the need for coordinated efforts to help the communities improve their living standards by harnessing the opportunities that the establishment of this ICT has brought to their surroundings.

The Information and Communication Technology Assisted Development project established under the auspices of the Ethiopian ICT Development Agency, with a loan secured from the World Bank and contribution made from the Ethiopian government and an assistance obtained in kind from the German Development Service (ded) has been effective since June 2005.

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