Tanzania, like the rest of Africa, is attempting to bridge the digital divide to create an information economy. And like many other African states, it is turning to open source to achieve this goal.
Speaking at the World Summit on the Information Society conference in Tunis, Tunisia yesterday, Mark J Mwandosya, Tanzania's minister for communications and transport, says that challenges developing nations face include “inadequate infrastructure, high cost to access ICT facilities and lack of relevant local content”.
Open source software is benefiting Tanzania in the latter challenge – that of relevant local content. “Tanzania is also spearheading the localisation of the key open source applications and operating Systems into Kiswahili,” says Mwandosya. “This has resulted in what are referred to as the Jambo Open Office, and Klinux for word processing, and websurfing, respectively. These efforts should lead to inclusive access and enhancement of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the information society.”
While not elaborating on the details, Mwandosya says that the country has initiated ICT projects in a number of fields, including e-health, e-agriculture, e-post, e-business, e-commerce, e-government and e-education.
Quelle: Tectonic, 18.11.2005
