José Maria Neves, president of Cape Verde, tours MIT

José Maria Neves, president of Cape Verde, visited MIT on April 4 and held a public forum on governance. The forum was part of the MIT x TAU series focusing on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa. Credits : Photo: Amanda Soh The visit featured a public seminar on African governance, as well as meetings with faculty, students, and staff. Previous image President José Maria Neves of Cape Verde visited MIT on Tuesday, meeting with the campus community and conducting a public event about e-governance in Africa, which highlighted the ways technology has helped his country. "Technology and information are a mechanism or means to establish links between [our] islands, and between Cape Verde and the diaspora," Neves said at the public forum. He added that high-tech communications have been "an essential tool to organize the country, and also to accelerate the transformation of the country." Using online tools more extensively, he noted, "leads to more inclusion, more transparency." The forum was part of the MIT x TAU series focusing on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa. The event was held before an audience in MIT's Samberg Center as well as webcast live, and was sponsored by MIT's Center for International Studies (CIS), the MIT-Africa Program, Global MIT, and the True Africa University (TAU), a global learning network.