Minister for Communication, Science and Technology Professor Makame Mbarawa says that resources to make sure that the initiatives go ahead as planned are available, arguing that President Jakaya Kikwete's government is committed to fully utilise ICT as a tool for rapid economic development.
"The government's commitment in research and development through science and technology cannot be overemphasized," Prof. Mbarawa points out. The national fibre-optic cable which is part of the East African Submarine System (EASSy) connecting 12 eastern and southern African countries to the global marine fibre-optic cable which was commissioned in 2008.
Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited has invested heavily in the project whose landing site is managed by Zanzibar Telecommunications Limited. The 9,900 km undersea fibre optic cable linking South Africa to Sudan and connecting landlocked nation countries in between with terrestrial cables is what the government is currently extending to regional headquarters all over the country.
President Kikwete said recently in Dar es Salaam while launching Microsoft Kiswahili version software that his government is committed towards extending the fibre-optic cable to all districts as it mulls plans to go online with some services.
"We have so far connected 19 regions and 59 districts, we expect to cover all the remaining 11 regions by the end of this year and all the districts by June, next year," Mr. Kikwete revealed. The President spoke about the effects of completing the district connection saying more people will have access to cheap reliable services with introduction of Microsoft Windows 7 Kiswahili Pack.
Touting his government's determination to promotion of information and communication technology (ICT) use in the country, the president pointed out that e-government and e-learning are some of the areas of the economy which will benefit from the fibre-optic cable.
"With e-government and e-learning, we hope to improve service delivery and curb loss of resources in the country," Kikwete noted.
Among others initiatives taken by President Kikwete's government to embrace ICT include plans to establish a local technology incubating site like a Silicon Valley at Dodoma University. In March last year, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training signed an agreement with American based IBM Corporation to build a technology research center in collaboration with United States based universities.
Under the deal, IBM is expected to also support the ministry in developing and implementing better access to technology and educational resources for Tanzanian universities and secondary schools, especially in remote areas of the country.
"This agreement underscores IBM's commitment to Tanzania and the importance of information technology in the development of the country," a statement released by the company said.
By leveraging cutting-edge technologies, the Tanzanian government has a real opportunity to develop in key areas such as education and research and development, which can play a key role in increasing the country's competitiveness in a global economy, the statement added.
The government also signed a 700m yuan (approx. 150bn/-) concessional loan agreement with Exim Bank of China last April to finance National ICT broadband infrastructure backbone network project and upgrading to extend EASSy project coverage.
"Under the National ICT broadband infrastructure backbone network project (Phase II), the Exim Bank of China will extend to Tanzania 700 million RMB yuan (about 100 million U.S. dollars) to support the implementation of the project, which aims to contribute significantly to the government's effort to improve communication technology in the country," a statement issued by Ministry of Finance said after the signing ceremony.
Efforts towards moving to an e-government are already underway at Tanzania Global Distance Learning Center where technocrats are already undergoing training. The TGDLC Acting Training Coordinator, Dickson Mwanyika, said that use of electronic communication may help deal with problems of paying ghost workers.
Mr. Mwanyika said recently that through e-government, authorities are also targeting to improve the investment climate and rejuvenate efforts to fight grand corruption as information relating to key sectors of the economy get digitized.
But one major hurdle towards attaining such a goal is lack of skilled human capital hence TGDLC's role to train technocrats. "Without proper training, implementation of e-government programme can hit a wall but those trained will be able to train others from district to lower levels," Mwanyika noted.
He said the ongoing construction of the National ICT broadband backbone stands as practical demonstrations of government determination to promote ICT and enforce e-government in public delivery systems.
"We at TGDLC are well positioned to ensure that training is an important task before the concept of the e-government can be realized," he pointed out.
Already, about 200 civil servants, particularly from national and regional administrations have been imparted with skills on the running of the e-government systems by April this year and that the target is to train public officials at all levels.
"The next step is to take same knowledge down to the district and local government levels," he said. In future, electronic communication will form core of the government business with elements such as m-government where alerts can be sent through text messages (SMS) to notify citizens of various services such as a permit needs to be renewed or that an emergency advisory notice has been issued.
According to experts, government institutions have in the past faired worse than their private counterparts in e-practices because of lack of skilled personnel and failure to consult experts.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Finnigan Wa Simbeye
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 22.06.2011
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