The advice has been given by the Minister of Communication, Science and Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa when addressing the Great Rift Valley ICT Summit in Dar es Salaam.
“ICT has a great potential to spur development in our countries…public and private sector have to work together in making ICT use in our countries a success,” he told journalists.
Giving an example, he said the application of science and innovation has revolutionised bank services in Tanzania and increase efficiency in the sector. “The application of science and technology has enabled bank services to spread to people as opposed to just a few years back,” he said.
He said participants of the meeting will learn how Tanzania has made progress especially in the areas of shifting to digital system as well as optical fibre network and their application to development.
“We will also learn from them with the intention to work together for the benefit of our countries,” he said. Prof. Mbarawa told participants that as the cyber crimes becomes common, the government of Tanzania is in the process to enact a law that will help curb the vice in the near future.
“We hope that we will have the law by December this year,” he said. He said the government through the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has established a special agency to fight cyber crime.
Earlier, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr. Elham Mahmoud Ibrahim commended Great Rift Valley countries for the decision to focus on ICT as a tool for attaining development in the region. He cautioned participants that there is no way that countries will attain sustainable development without considering ICT in their development agendas.
“I commend you for your decision…what is really needed is to deal with challenges in ICT and forge forward,” he said, adding that cyber crimes should be fought with all means. The two day meeting that ended yesterday was attended ICT ministers and other development stakeholders from Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Southern Sudan, Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania.
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Quelle/Source: Daily News, 19.07.2013
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