However, it is project whose initiators have high hopes. The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) says the park will be the first “smart village” in East Africa. It is heartening news, indeed, but it’s still too early to celebrate.
This is not the first time the government or its agencies have come up with a grand plan for ICT development. Tanzania was, in fact, the first country in East and Central Africa to have an ICT policy. However, its implementation has been wanting, to say the least.
Fellow East African Community partner state Rwanda later came up with its own ICT policy, which is strikingly similar to Tanzania’s. The big difference, however, is that while lip service has been the norm in Tanzania, Rwanda embarked on a comprehensive implementation of the policy.
The result is that Rwanda is now miles ahead of Tanzania and the other four fellow EAC member states. Kigali is now recognised as East Africa’s No. 1 ICT nation by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Uctad).
Grand plans are as good as nothing without the will to implement them.
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Quelle/Source: The Citizen Daily, 20.04.2011
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