Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has launched the country’s Information Communication Technology Policy to guide Zimbabwe’s economic development through a coordinated use of ICTs, reports The Herald. The ICT policy, together with the Innovation Drive, a policy to provide funding to young innovators, will provide strategic direction and guidance for sustainable national economic development through systematic and coordinated application of ICT’s, said Mnangagwa.
The president said the ICT policy is aimed at transformation, growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, innovation and partnerships in the mainstream economy and puts in place institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks in order to achieve its intended goals. It is envisaged that all sectors of the economy and society at large will harness the power of ICT’s for the development of our nation. He commended players in the ICT’s sector for their advances that have seen the penetration rate rise to 95 percent and a geographical coverage of 75 percent.
An engineering scholar in Asia Tahir Hameed, in a journal on Information Communication Technology, reiterates that ICTs can be an enabler to development.
“Hargittai and other studies have shown that the rate of Information Technology diffusion is correlated to the general level of socio-economic development. A most recent finding is that ICTs play a vital role in advancing economic growth and reducing poverty. A survey of firms carried out in 56 developing countries finds that firms that use ICTs grow faster, invest more, and are more productive and profitable than those that do not.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday launched the national Information Communication Technology (ICT) policy to underpin economic growth through use of ICTs.
The policy puts in place institutional and legal frameworks aimed at promoting growth of the ICT sector and the economy at large, Mnangagwa said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the information communication technology (ICT) sector must be viewed as an economic enabler towards the growth of the gross domestic product.
Officially launching the Zimbabwe National Policy for ICT and the Zimbabwe Innovation drive in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa said all sectors in the economy should be moving towards e-platforms.
Government and various stakeholders will on March 21 officially launch the process of implementing the National Information Communication Technology (ICT) policy, which was crafted in 2015, an official has said.
Zimbabwe first launched its National ICT Policy Framework in 2007, but the document was overtaken by developments in the fast-growing sector.