2.INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE:

2.  INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE:

          Pauline defines information infrastructure as national capabilities for making knowledge and Information to work. It deals with data collection, classification, cataloguing, storing, retrieval of information either manually or online and disseminating of information in different ways.

          More recently the National Forum of Infrastructures of Information and Communication (Oct. 1999) has given attention to the enhancement of national information capabilities, information sources and facilities including planning and design and the need of comprehensive surveys of existing management capabilities.

There are a variety of information infrastructures, which covers different sectors of national resources, which are agriculture, education, economy, industry, finance, natural resources and research and development.   These sectors are considered as information sources, which are located internally in departments of ministries, private institutions, information institutions and non-governmental institutions, externally in regional, international and UN-organizations.

We mainly concentrate on the basic infrastructure of networking:

Communication:

          Information and communication can not be possible without sound information technology and communication infrastructure. Without a good information technology, the means to communicate beyond the interpersonal level would be impossible. With radio, television, newspapers, satellites, and computers, information can be exchange worldwide and communication facilitated. The availability of this infrastructure in the country has greatly suffered. The main information sources such as libraries, information and documentation centres and archives did not enjoy facilities to provide necessary information to users. The communication infrastructure in the Sudan is beset by a number of difficulties.

Telecommunications:

SUDATEL is Sudan telecommunication’s company. It operates the largest telecommunications infrastructure in Sudan. Its highest priority is given to Khartoum State (the capital of the country) and major cities in other states. 

Nowadays, public telephone density in the capital of the country is slightly high, but the vast rural areas still have no access to the most basic telecommunication facilities. The existing infrastructure poses various difficulties due to  poorly dimensioned switching equipment;  unreliable primary power sources ;

The restructuring and liberalization of the national Telecom Company took place a 3 years ago and the national carrier Sudatel is owned privately with 20% government share. Sudatel have already started  digitizing existing analog lines, replacing older unreliable switches with modern high-speed switches is underway. Fiber optic links to various regions and within Khartoum have taking place. [From Mike Jensen’s Sangonet Site on Sudan].