The minister for communications, science and technology Professor Makame Mbarawa said this in Dar es Salaam at the launch of the ministry’s exhibition to mark the 50th independence anniversary.
In a bid to bridge this digital divide, the minister said that the government will provide subsidies to attract investors to invest in rural areas.
Indeed, this is all well and good if these lofty plans can be followed by committed action.
There is no point in promising this and that or as they say, the moon if it is not backed up by action.
Our rural areas where the majority of the wananchi live are in dire need of almost everything: water, electricity, hospitals/health centres, good roads and the like.
Unfortunately, many rural areas in the country feel totally neglected and justifiably so because they lack basic services.
Indeed, in some areas women still wake up early in the morning and walk for long distances to fetch water for domestic use.
Worse still, there are areas where parents pray hard that their children will not fall sick during the night because of a lack of medical facilities near their homes.
In light of this, it can be seen that there is already a divide between urban and rural areas not just digitally but in other facets of human endeavour as well.
Now then, if authorities want to carry rural areas along on this digital revolution they should not rely solely on private investors even though they will be given subsidies as incentives.
This is because they might seem as if they are intent on investing in digital technology but do completely the opposite with the aim of making bigger profits.
On the other hand, they might take the idea seriously and invest in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) but then charge too high beyond the reach of rural dwellers.
All this means that authorities will have to chip in with concrete action if they really want to realize the goal of reducing the digital gap.
Perhaps they could start by ensuring that schools and community centres in the rural areas are equipped with computers connected to the Internet.
This will then enable the surrounding communities around these schools to benefit from the Internet.
It is a fact that the Internet can help the rural communities in many ways. And since it can also be accessed in our national language, many people can take advantage of it and use it to improve their lives.
For instance, the Internet can offer farmers a new pathway to access information on better ways to grow their crops and even information on prices and potential customers in far-flung parts of the country or indeed the world.
Thus, while the multiple benefits and advantages of the Internet for rural dwellers are not in doubt, it remains to be seen whether authorities can fulfill their ambitious pledge to bridge the digital divide in the country.
The sad thing is that if this pledge is not followed by tangible, swift action, it will rank as one more massive let-down in an unfortunately long list of disappointments for the rural areas in the country.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sinde Ndwasinde
Quelle/Source: IPPmedia, 15.11.2011
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