IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

“Access to relevant information and technology will surely catalyse the transformation of industries, formal and informal sectors, defence, education and financial services, among others,” he said here when inaugurating the Kipawa Institute of Communication Technology on Monday.

The upgrade, which is being undertaken by information technology company Spatial Dimension, will enable the existing MCIMS to support online transactions.

ICT is an opportunity that needs to tempt into active food production value chain. So far, there are many mobile telephone farming innovations that is a manifestation of a true revolution in the country’s agricultural production.

Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has developed a system that monitors real-time transactions of the bureaux de change across Tanzania to enhance supervisions.

This new development comes amid concerns by stakeholders that some bureaus are violating transaction regulations including non-issuing of receipts to hide actual transactions.

The new system, which is built on the IOM Border Management Information System and customised to Tanzanian needs, will allow the immigration department to capture biometric samples from applicants and to register applicants’ data in an electronic database.

Education experts and social scientists also support this by saying education is key to success because it empowers people to cope with the challenges of life with an informed mind.Camara, an International organization, is one of the organizations that has been using the saying to champion education transformation in various countries of the world through the use of technology.

Cell phone diagnosis-which was initially applied in the field of dermatology (skin disorders) - has apparently come to the rescue of many patients in rural Tanzania - who could not be diagnosed due to lack of expertise necessitated by poor logistics and infrastructures.

Speaking at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit in London on Thursday, 31 November, President Kikwete of Tanzania announced a commitment to enacting a Freedom of Information law.

The discussions were centred around minutes of an earlier meeting in Tanzania last year.

The Tanzania meeting identified customs and immigration control, e-parliament, e-health, e-banking and procurement as strategic areas to be tackled in the push for an economic community based on information knowledge.

Currently the country continues to address the enabling factors which include expansion of the national ICT backbone infrastructure, more landing points for the submarine fibre-optic cables, human resource development and pro-ICT policies.

The project is a bold step taken by the government to connect all regions and districts so that they have access to the 10,000 kilometre national and regional broadband infrastructure as well as sea cables.

An eight-member delegation from Tanzania, led by Mr Amon A. Mpanju, the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, is in the country to understudy the transformational agenda of the National Lotteries Authority.

The visit forms part of the efforts by the Tanzanian Government to restructure and transform its Lottery industry and operations.

Internet users in Tanzania will now enjoy affordable and faster surfing services, thanks to the launch of the Google Global cache link to the Tanzania Internet Exchange (TIX), that will ensure local traffic is sourced locally.

At the launch of the service in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, the Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, was optimistic that the new product will attract more internet users.

“Through the use of computer and internet services, users can nowadays communicate faster, while in the past they relied on letter writing only, which was time consuming. So, letter writing has dropped considerably thanks to ICT advancement,” says an ICT expert Alexander Mugaya, who runs his own business in Dar es Salaam.

According to Mugaya, Tanzania is rapidly changing because of ICT advancement and people can now communicate and get things done faster.

Advancements in ICT and the deployment of networks enable greater opportunities for development, access to information and more open communication.

We have seen companies in the ICT sector striving to bridge the digital divide - so everyone can afford to enjoy the benefits of communications. Some have moved farther to shift their focus from ‘a phone for everyone’ to ‘broadband for everyone’, to enable users to tap the infinite possibilities that a connected world presents.

Nyalandu was speaking before the Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania H.E. Masaki Okada and other invitees at the latter’s residence in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday this week. He was the guest of honour in an occasion to officially handle over the Life Innovation Container (LIC) project which has been granted by Panasonic Cooperation of Japan to Mbola village in Uyui district Tabora region; this is one of the identified Millennium Village Projects.

InfoTech, a leading technology solutions company, went live with its project to implement its flagship product GeReg®- a one stop shop e-government service – at the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) in Tanzania.

RITA is responsible for registration of information on key life events, incorporation of trustees, and safeguarding properties under trust, of deceased persons, insolvents, and minors in Tanzania. However, lack of communication and travel facilities in Tanzania, especially in rural areas, caused RITA to have a significant backlog of unregistered births. Failure to achieve its original goal set out in 2010 through the Under 5’s Birth Registration Initiative to register births as close as possible in time and location to where they occur, led to the pursuit of a solution to counter the problems. After a rigorous competitive bidding process, InfoTech secured this World Bank funded project.

This follows meetings between Patricia Kaliati, Malawi Minister for Information and Civic Education and her host Prof Makame Mbarawa, Minister for Communication, Science and Technology,

Kaliati also consulted with TCRA management and TTCL management to learn from them Tanzania’s experience in ICT so as to introduce the same in her country. The Malawian minister has been in the country for five days.

The CDC-funded mHealth Tanzania Partnership’s Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby SMS Service (HPHB) celebrates 1 million registrations to its service since its launch in November 2012. The service has sent 55 Million free SMS with safe antenatal, motherhood and infant healthcare information to Tanzanian pregnant women, mothers with newborns, male supporters and general information seekers across all national mobile networks.

The service is a success thanks to the dynamic collaboration among over two dozen partners coordinated under the mHealth Tanzania Partnership that works closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to reduce high Tanzania’s maternal and infant mortality rates. The partners support the message content development and updates, on-the-ground roll-out, service promotion, end user mobilization and registration assistance and technical application of the service.

The Tanzanian government has banned all its workers from social media during working hours.

In a circular by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, in charge of Public Service Management, Dr Florian Ndumbaro said that government offices with internet connectivity should not be used to access social media platforms.

Dr Ndumbaro said the decision arose from complaints by members of the public about slow delivery of services. He said some employees are pre-occupied with social media sites during working hours.

This article is going to explore some initiatives taken by Tanzanian government in providing conducive environment for utilisation of ICT in the education sector.