Zimbabwe: ICT Draft Policy Ready

THE new Information Communication Technology draft policy has been completed and now awaits Cabinet approval. Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa yesterday confirmed this in an interview on the sidelines of the 25th anniversary of the ICT Africa 2012 Exhibition.

"In terms of the ICT document, we are in the process of concluding it. The draft document is being circulated to various Government departments," he said.

"We have also consulted various players and we hope to have it launched by the end of the year once Cabinet has approved it."

The current ICT policy is outdated as it was crafted in 2007, making it difficult to cope with current developments in the sector. Minister Chamisa said the current legislative framework also needed to be improved to conform to developments in the industry.

"On the legislative side there is still work to be done," he said. "We have to address issues such as cybercrime, cyber terrorism and protect our children from detrimental material that has become available through the use of latest technologies.

Harare

"We also do not want Zimbabwe to be a dumping ground for antiquated ICT products that have been rejected by other countries. We also do not want to be just consumers, but to develop our industry so that it can produce products that can be sold to other countries."

The minister said there was need to increase accessibility of ICTs to the generality of Zimbabweans to enhance development in all sectors of the economy. The exhibition also coincided with the rebranding of the Computer Suppliers' Association of Zimbabwe to ICT Suppliers Association of Zimbabwe.

ICTSAZ chairman Mr. Harold Muvuti said the rebranding had been necessitated by the changes in the ICT sector. "We are now encompassing a whole spectrum of information technologies from cellphones, Internet, bandwidth, software and all of these are now embraced under ICT Suppliers' Association, instead of just focusing on computers alone as was the case previously," he said.

Mr Muvuti said this year's exhibition had seen quality products being exhibited while the response from the business sector and school children had been impressive.

President Mugabe has embarked on a computerisation programme for education institutions in the past 10 years to ensure computer literacy among pupils and students. Early this year, the President launched the e-learning initiative targeted at schools and spearheaded by the Ministry of Information Communication Technology.

The Herald Zimbabwe