Dr Harold Wesso, Center for e-innovation, Provincial Government of Western Cape said other forms of ICT such as television, radio, and mobile phones should also be recognised as ICT tools and concentration should not just be based on the internet. He said this during the ongoing Information Society Week (ISW) in Cape Town which is part of the civil society colloquium which started this week on Monday. He also observed that not everything about the information society was good as there were some negatives. He said this when people from the community asked about issues on privacy and cyber crime.
Dr Harold Wesso explained that there was need to build an information society in South Africa in order to support and encourage the use of ICT by citizens and business, literacy, life long learning, and a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship by citizens, businesses and other organisations.
"Unless we have the skills we will never participate in the information society," said Dr Harold Wesso.
He said this would help citizens, businesses and regions to be better able to successfully compete in a globalised world. He said access to information, knowledge and skills would be equalised while socio-economic development with the goal of improving the quality of life for all is supported. This would also make participation in the democratic decision making to be extended and improved.
Dr Wesso said e government was a component of this information society.
"E-government is the continuous optimisation of government service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external. He said that an Information Society was a society in which the creation, distribution, and manipulation of information is the most significant economic and cultural activity. He added that it is was also one in which "everyone can create, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and people to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life."
He observed that not so many people in South Africa want to talk about the knowledge economy. He called on South Africans to start talking on the knowledge economy which he said was the economic component of the Information Society.
He said knowledge was information used productively or in innovative ways and a knowledge economy was therefore one in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge play a predominant part in the creation of wealth.
He said the productivity and competitiveness of units or agents in the economy, "be they individuals, firms, regions or nations," depend mainly on their capacity to generate process and efficiently apply knowledge-based information.
He explained that e-government looks beyond the IT needs of the organisation, by concerning itself with the transactions that take place between itself and citizens, business, and other governmental organisations in other places and spheres, and by moving beyond mere efficiency of government processes to accomplish broader goals of social and economic development.
Dr Wesso added that e- government was there to improve the efficiency of government processes, enable provincial government departments to better co-ordinate and harmonise their activities. He also said that with e-government it was possible to communicate better with 'customers' and other spheres of government while improving the reach and efficiency of service delivery. He also pointed out that this would support democracy through citizen participation.
He added that giving permission for people to think differently and innovate starts the necessary cultural change in an information society, everyone is empowered to participate. He said sharing the ideas and helping to change the way that people think builds its own momentum. He also pointed out that e-government cannot change everything, but can influence most things.
Autor: Brenda Zulu
Quelle: AllAfrica, 24.08.2005
