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Africa benefits from national ICT policies
Only one-third of African countries have an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy in place, with another third developing such a policy. This has come to light in a research report released by ForgeAhead. ICT Policy creation is seen as a major opportunity and a must for economies that have yet to recognise the enabling contribution of ICTs.
ForgeAhead’s annual ICT in Government research has on a number of occasions identified the need for all governments to formulate, adopt and implement a national ICT strategy. More stakeholders are also recognising that the enabling benefits of ICTs can only be fully realised as part of a holistic approach that coordinates the key activities and synergises resources.
“There has been a significant increase in the number of departments that have developed and implemented a Master Systems Plan/ Strategic Information Systems Plan. These plans are driving the consolidation of core system modules from both a technology base and from the perspective of content and knowledge,” states the report.
The report further notes that a major topic of discussion is focussed around the maturity of current infrastructure to support eGovernment initiatives and “it was mentioned by one CIO that government is notorious for taking short cuts and not looking to address the fundamental issues.”
Skills shortage is another major challenge faced by South Africa and the rest of Africa. “Skills issues are an Africa-wide challenge in that eGovernment and technology will never be adopted if the skills sets of the citizens are not aligned to the use of technology as part of everyday life.”
“Africa also needs to partner with leading organisations and countries from across the globe to address issues around education and increasing the ICT literacy of Africa and its people,” the report states.
ForgeAhead’s International ICT in Government Summit held in May hosted a number of high-profile African public sector representative. One such person, Minister Motsoahae T. Thabane, the Minister of Communications in Lesotho (former) says: “The proper use of ICTs enables government to offer services to citizens. eGovernment is not the means to an end, but rather the enabler to ensure that effective and efficient channels of service delivery are established.”
Egypt has implemented a “free Internet Initiative” where Internet access is available across all fixed phone lines at the cost of local phone calls. “Part of this initiative is the IT clubs initiative which helps create access to technology in the lower income households affecting the youth, NGOs, schools and colleges. We aim to have 3000 of these clubs available (including those in rural areas) by 2007,” says Ahmad M. Abdel Bassit of Egypt’s Department of Communications and Information Technology
“Other initiatives that have been put in place include decreasing the price of broadband by 50%, the installation and activation of broadband and launching the campaign to boost citizen awareness. Bassit says; “This resulted in a major increase of Internet users,” Bassit adds.
Egypt also encourages eLearning among the youth. Its eLearning programme includes the provision of lessons via multimedia and Internet applications, training facilitators to use the technology and mobilising the community using this tool. “This has resulted in a Mobile IT club, which is helping introduce ICT to communities in remote, under-serviced areas whilst increasing the awareness of the potential of technology,” says Bassit.
Health education is vital. Dr Kabita Bose, Senior Lecturer at the University of Botswana, on the importance of health education and eLearning, says: “It is critical to start with health education at primary school level and target the age group of children that can begin to comprehend the information. ICT in education plays an important role as it is an enabler of the dissemination, storage, and gathering of information.”
“It is not feasible to think that computers can just be provided in all areas, but the needs of students, the impact of globalisation, and the advancement of IT and connectivity make these issues impossible to ignore.”
Dr. Shaheen Khotu, Chief Information Officer of the Department of Health, SA, says: “South Africa needs to develop a standard ‘dictionary’ for codes to ensure smooth transitions from institution to institution concerning knowledge base. Only 50% of South Africa’s hospitals have the infrastructure to achieve a “paperless” environment.”
“The vision is to have a national patient registry that can be accessed regardless of which medical institution one is admitted to. However, there are major concerns about the achievement of this vision, namely the issue of a national eHealth Strategy, eGovernment and the cost of Health Information Systems,” he says.
Khotu notes that there is currently a gap between the activities of the various tiers of government, as a national strategy needs to be properly communicated. Concerns regarding eGovernment are attributed to the lack of a consolidated system throughout provinces. The national strategy needs to guide the provinces into a single direction of health care to ensure compatibility and that standards are achieved,” he concludes. |
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