ESA title

Appropriate Satellite Technology in Support of African Electoral Cycles

Appropriate Satellite Technology in Support of African Electoral Cycles

SatElections: Appropriate Satellite Technology in Support of African Electoral Cycles, is an innovative project for the production and delivery of eLearning modules on Effective Electoral Assistance and Electoral Administration via satellite.

The SatElections project is receiving the financial support of the Governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy that are funding an industrial consortium coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the frame of the ARTES 4 Industry Partnership Telecommunications Programme.

 

The SatElections project is closely interacting with the activities of the European Commission (EC)  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) led Global Training Platform on Effective Electoral Assistance, and represents the first step toward validating the fulfillment of the operational communication needs required in African Electoral Cycles. A pilot utilisation of the satcom platform proposed for the SatElections project will be run in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (IEC-DRC) is acting as sponsoring partner and user. This Electoral Management Body received the largest aid ever in the context of the EC-UNDP partnership in the area of electoral assistance.

Thanks to the cooperation of the Industrial Partners (Openet, Newtec and SES Astra), the IEC-DCR, and UNDP, EC, International IDEA, the SatElections project aims to:

  • produce the first ever eLearning modules on effective electoral assistance and electoral administration
  • assess the feasibility of broadcasting the modules with appropriate, cost effective and sustainable satellite technology
  • assess the feasibility of using the same satellite technology for creating an internal network for Electoral Management Bodies and for their electoral data transmission

The project will demonstrate, through the real case opportunity of the 2008-2011 Electoral Cycle of the DRC, that the SatElections system and associated services can provide an effective, sustainable and scalable solution in support of African Electoral Cycles.

26 January 2010
Last updated at 07 March 2014 - 11:01