The Executive Secretary of CERDOTOLA Pr. Charles Binam Bikoi has granted an audience to the Resident Representative, the Head of the African Institute of Informatics (IAI Cameroon) Mr. Armand Claude Abanda on July 25th 2017 at the CERDOTOLA headquarters in Yaoundé. During their talks, the two personalities gave an overview of current events and digital projects on the African continent and follow up the tracks of a partnership between their respective institutions.
In this framework, Mr. Armand Claude Abanda made the history of his institution and the development of the Representation of Cameroon. Indeed, the IAI-Cameroon exists since October 1st 1999, following the Decisions of the Board of Directors held in Niamey (Niger) in 1996. He also informed his host of the projects of IAI-Cameroon, such as “Operation 100,000 Women / Horizon 2012” (2002-2012), which was a great success, as well as the new project launched in March 2015 entitled “One Million young people, children and women “(MIJEF). The aim of this social work is to bring the underprivileged classes (women and children) to the ICT with a view to creating a qualitative wealth for an emerging Cameroon by 2035.
The Executive Secretary of CERDOTOLA has congratulated M. Armand Claude Abanda for his dynamism and leadership, because since its implementation the Institution has experienced a progressive and harmonious development whose results are visible at all levels: academic, managerial, logistic and infrastructure. He presented the CERDOTOLA, its mandate and its evolution since its creation in 1977. Then he went on to evoke the digital projects underway at CERDOTOLA. The Resident Representative and his collaborators were able to discover, with amazement, the existence of the ALORA (Digital Archives of Africa), NULIGRA (Digitization of Grey Literature in Africa) projects, and the LANADEV program (National Languages and Development), which will soon be launched, in partnership with ACALAN (African Academy of Languages). He then recalled and commented on the major resolutions emanating from the last CERDOTOLA international Conference organized in 2015 on the theme “Africa in search of culturally sustainable development: the place and role of African traditions in contemporary dynamics” emergence ”. The commitment of the IAI to participate in the development of the continent through local engineering thus joins the concern of CERDOTOLA, which takes endogenous knowledge and knowledge as the foundation of emergence for African countries. It is in this sense that CERDOTOLA advocates an “African Pact for Development and Emergence through Traditions” – PADETRA. This concept aims at the industrialization of traditions, which consists of inventorying, modernizing and bringing as a standard, massively producing and distributing all high-added-value patrimonial practices and resources in order to establish the future emergence and economy of Africa on an endogenous basis.
Through PADETRA Pr. Charles Binam Bikoi affirms and shows that African development, emergence and renaissance are endogenous and culturally sustainable or not. And this renaissance will not happen without the assistance of digital economy.
The two leaders seized the opportunity of this hearing to explore ways of collaboration between their institutions. This resulted in a programmatic convergence between CERDOTOLA and IAI of the flagship training projects, in particular the translation of course content into African languages, the introduction of programs for the safeguarding and enhancement of languages and traditions in curricula Computer training.
Professor Charles Binam Bikoi offered his illustrious guest a kit made up of some recent publications of CERDOTOLA, whose issues revolve around African history, linguistic policies, anthropology, traditional medicine, art , cultural policies and the contribution of culture to the development of Africa. As a preeminent Institution dedicated to the languages and traditions of Africa, CERDOTOLA intervenes and operates to clarify the reflection and continue its mobilization around the stakes that are those of IAI.
In the opinion of the Resident Representative, the wealth of exchanges with the Executive Secretary will undoubtedly contribute to enriching the IAI program in Cameroon, beyond expectations.
Before leaving the headquarters of CERDOTOLA, Mr. Armand Claude Abanda expressed the wish to establish a lasting collaboration with the Center, the aim of which would be to use ICTs in the service of the traditional universe and knowledge, namely history, languages and Cultural heritage, the promotion of engineering and interculturality, development, renaissance and the emergence of Africa.
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Representation of the African Institute of Informatics, the headquarters of IAI-Cameroon are in Yaoundé, Kol Anga’a on the road of Mfou. More information on : http://www.iaicameroun.com
