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ZAMBIA’S vision for information communications technology (ICT) is “A Zambia transformed into information and knowledge based society supported by increased access to ICTs by all citizens by 2030”.

However, achieving this vision will require effective and efficient high-level coordination of ICT interventions across all sectors of the economy.

The increasingly rapid usage of digital media technologies by many citizens today and its increased primacy as a platform of choice for accessing and disseminating information is programme of how ICTs have transformed the way people communicate. This increased inter-connectivity, where multiple sources of information and data are consumed using different digital technologies, has become a common feature in today’s global economy.

Thus, for some commentators, this increased trend in the use of digital media technologies has immensely contributed to the ongoing intellectual discourse on the 21st century ‘battle of ideas’, which has assumed a global dimension, unprecedented since the advent of the modern information age.

There is, therefore, no doubt that these technological advances have significantly changed the local and global landscape in the way business, political, economic and social transactions are conducted.

Similarly, on October 22, 2015, President Edgar Lungu launched the Centre of Excellence for E-Government and ICT in Lusaka. This was a roll-out programme for the uptake and use of the ICTs through an effective national e-government for public service delivery.

This programme is aimed at improving coordination, implementation of information and communication technology projects, as well as ensuring that services required by citizens and other stakeholders from Government are automated.

It is also aimed at providing public services with the necessary tools for using modern communications technologies to be part of the e-government programme that connects Government to citizens and enables the faster and cheaper delivery of services.

Therefore, Government’s move in its strategy for e-governance sets a good tone for both ordinary citizens and the private sector in a quest to bring significant improvement to public service delivery and also exploit the opportunities that arise from the technological developments in this competitive global digital economy.

However, in order to ensure our country effectively utilises new technologies and transform into an information and knowledge-based society in order to meet its development goals, efforts should be made to create capacity for skills development in the use of ICTs for citizens.

For instance, in the area of public service delivery, public service workers should be empowered with cutting edge technologies while citizens should also be empowered to utilise different ICT tools to enable them access public services in a fast and convenient way.

Government must also ensure that it extends its services to all citizens across the country and that no citizen should be excluded from accessing public services using ICTs due to their physical, technological and other forms of challenges.

Further, Zambia should create an enabling environment through policy and regulatory approaches that open up the ICT sector to new innovative start-ups such as SMEs and other private sector players.

There is also need to step up efforts to increase access to high speed internet such as broadband connectivity in the country. Internet, digital media and other new technologies must provide solutions to some of the challenges being faced in our development agenda. These technologies must be focused on improving service delivery for citizens.

The ultimate aim of adaptation of ICT tools in our economy at all levels should be to create new opportunities, especially for digital skills development, and enable citizens to respond to, address and ultimately solve the developmental challenges facing our country.

For instance, today, digital broadcasting in Zambia is providing an opportunity for growth of the private sector in the broadcasting industry, in particular television, local content television producers and other players in the film industry. Digital television is also laying a foundation for access to good quality mass media communication for citizens.

However, there is an urgent need for our country to develop an ICT skills development framework to ensure that the country’s education system as a whole is positioned to best prepare our young learners for the digital future.

The ICT skills development framework should also prioritise lifelong learning and offer opportunities and structured ways for workers in both public and private sectors to upgrade their

skills in ICTs to take advantage of digital technologies. A national awareness and training scheme should also be developed to enable individual citizens to participate effectively in the digital development.

Therefore, the sustainable and productive use of ICTs in today’s fast-changing global digital economy driven by the increased use and adaptation of ICT tools in all human activities should be a key priority in our national development agenda and should constitute constructive policy discourse in the ‘battle of ideas’ for the sustainable social and economic development for our country.

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Autor(en)/Author(s): Mubanga Lumpa

Quelle/Source: Zambia Daily Mail, 24.04.2017

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