IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Addressing local and international delegates to the 5th International Conference on ICTs for Africa in Harare, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said the continent is tired of being consumers of ICT products from the developed countries, adding that ways should be sought for Africa to be actively involved in the production of ICT materials.

Speaking at a National Research Prioritisation Stakeholders workshop in Harare on Thursday, Dzinotyiweyi said proposals to support research institutions had already been presented to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.

He said the process needed to be well structured for a reasonable period for results to be realised.

“The country is in a period of rebuilding and the timing for investment could not be better,” he said.

The Minister is also on record as saying that Zimbabwe is moving ahead with plans to push its ICT sector to “the next level” by 2015, orchestrated through the Zimbabwe National ICT Policy Framework, first launched in 2007 and adapted to keep up with industry developments.

The revised information and communication technology policy framework seeks to give strategic direction for sustainable national development through the application of ICTs.

The policy will replace the one formulated in 2005 so as to accommodate recent sectorial developments.

“We need to effectively change our schools curriculum so that we keep what is good and transform what is not, so that we keep abreast with international advancements,” Coltart told NewsDay yesterday.

Developed societies have taken advantage of advances in ITCs by gaining broad access to modern digital networks and significant economic as well as social spin-offs for their communication and business sectors.

But their counterparts in developing countries including Zimbabwe are yet to achieve satisfactory levels of connectivity.

"In terms of the ICT document, we are in the process of concluding it. The draft document is being circulated to various Government departments," he said.

Government is in the process of re-configuring, recreating and modernise public administration systems using information communication technology (ICT).

Already 11 applications under the e-government initiative have gone live in a bid to improve service delivery

In a speech read on his behalf at the ongoing African Tax Administration Forum's High Level Conference on ICT here in Victoria Falls, Dr Misheck Sibanda said the applications had gone live for all projects that are riding on the already existing Public Finance Management System hardware infrastructure and Enterprise Resources Planning ERP licences.

According to ICT minister Nelson Chamisa, the new policy will provide for, among other things, the establishment of a national information and communication technology authority, and a national information and communication technology converged regulator and e-government.

As well as modernizing the country's financial system, the government is also laying the foundations for Zimbabwe to become a digital society by 2015.

While this may sound ambitious for a developing country, the information technology and communications landscape has changed exponentially since 2008; the cellphone telephony penetration rate skyrocketed from 13 percent to 72 percent in 2011, while Internet penetration jumped from 1.3 percent in 2008 to 24 percent last year, amounting to some 1.42 million users.

The team has been holding consultative meetings with stakeholders throughout the country on the ICT policy since June this year.

The draft policy is expected to be presented to Cabinet once all the views gathered have been consolidated into the document.

Mupingo made the remarks last Friday at a workshop organised for city fathers from Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces.

“It’s high time that we in the local government sector get appropriately equipped in terms of e-government so that we have strategic approaches to this subject,” he said.

Policy consultations started on Tuesday in Marondera and proceeded to Mutare yesterday.

Consultation in other towns and cities has been slotted for later this month. The final review will be in Harare on July 26 after which the ICT Ministry will prepare a draft that will be used to formulate the national ICT policy.