The South African National Broadband Forum (SANBF) held a workshop earlier this year, focusing on the development of a framework for a national broadband strategy. The framework was released in April, focusing on various initiatives which will ensure that “all South Africans should have affordable broadband access to the Internet.”
Read more: South Africa: National broadband policy under the spotlight
Dr Kim made the above announcements at the Government Information Forum Hong Kong. Organised by FutureGov last week at Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, the event attracted more than 170 government officials to discuss how to better manage information resources and improve service delivery.
Speaking during her budget vote address this week, finance MEC Louisa Mabe said IT played a key role in the province's response to unfavourable economic conditions. She added that the aim is to restore stability in the lives of those who will be affected by the global economic downturn. The answer, she said, would be found through programmes and systems, which increase productivity and protect the most vulnerable in the province.
Following several weeks of budget presentations to Parliament, ministers revealed their IT plans. While spending on IT projects increased across most departments, budget allocations focused on improving existing systems and processes. In what can be seen as an indication of economic conditions and failures in previous administrations, ministers did not announce any ambitious projects.
KwaZulu-Natal acting MEC for economic development and tourism, Ina Cronje, recently delivered an address highlighting the importance of technology in the province. While she said it was becoming increasingly important for politicians and policy-makers to perceive mobile broadband and mobile technologies as important tools to fight poverty and improve service delivery – these sentiments were not echoed in her budget allocations.
Read more: South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal promises broadband boom