Gold contenders and no-shows

The World Cup is over, the Christmas specials have long since begun and everyone is feeling the end-of-year slump.

It's that time of the year when one should look back with dramatically nostalgic eyes at the year that just passed and decide if it was a good one, or a year that is best forgotten, at the life-changing events and the gaping non-achievements.

It's come that time to take a snapshot look at what life-changing events the government has carried out in the ICT world over 2010, and what gaping holes are yet to be filled. Digital TV anyone?

After years of delays, the Teacher Laptop Initiative finally saw the light of day.

The much-anticipated project not only brought to teachers an option of getting their own laptops, but the chance to be trained in basic computer usage so they could digitise their mark capturing and detention lists.

I hate to be the one with the black marker, but the initiative did not necessarily bring the relieved smiles that were expected. Teachers have to put at least R120 towards their laptops if they want them and then they are left asking if typed-up worksheets and PowerPoint presentations are worth it.

It's brilliant that teachers are getting the chance to become computer literate, but some issues still need to be ironed out for the initiative to deliver its full value.

Citizens are tired of being the blonde girl running up the stairs screaming and trying to hide from the unknown

Farzana Rasool, journalist, ITWeb

Here's a good project with no qualifications. In April, science and technology minister Naledi Pandor outlined aims for a project to be rolled out that will see rural schools connected to the Internet.

And by September it was done. A wireless mesh network was launched at a school in Mpumalanga as part of a poverty alleviation project, with plans for widespread roll-out to other rural schools and community centres.

Watch and learn people, this is how it's done.

Possibly the best news for the ICT sector this year was that the controversial Siphiwe Nyanda was axed as minister of communications and replaced by deputy minister of public service and administration Roy Padayachie. The new minister has already tightened deadlines on high-profile ICT projects and presented a turnaround strategy for the department.

E-tolling. Everyone knows it belongs in this section.

Extensive work on the project this year means it all begins in April 2011. Not only are motorists going to be paying just to drive to and from work everyday in addition to their fuel and vehicle costs, but they as yet, have no idea how much they're going to be paying. Mystery is no one's friend in this situation.

I'm sure Sanral and the Department of Transport (DOT) are enjoying the whole cloak and dagger thing, but citizens are tired of being the blonde girl running up the stairs screaming and trying to hide from the unknown. Just tell us already!

Gauteng citizens and visitors to the province will all have to endure an open road, multi-lane toll system that allows for tolls to be charged (at a surprise price), without drivers having to stop.

There will be 42 overhead gantries fitted with the toll collection equipment that will recognise the electronic transponder (e-tag) in a vehicle. The toll will be deducted from a user's registered e-toll account.

We can't grade the Dinaledi schools for this year, since matric examinations are still ongoing, but here's to hoping the results in these schools, which are meant to have a stronger focus on maths and science, are in the black this year.

However, something that hasn't been achieved for these schools is the connectivity that was supposed to be provided by Sentech, through its National Wholesale Broadband Network.

The signal distributor was allocated R500 million by National Treasury for this project and the funding model was eventually not approved, but let's not get into all the nasty details.

A complete no-show in 2010 was the intelligent number plates project.

A lack of competition is the reason given for the delay this time. The DOT says the project will now be rolled out in a phased approach over 24 months. No surprise that the department can't say when this 24-month period will actually begin.

The electronic number plate system will have RFID tags that contain unique identification codes programmed into a 2D bar code that traffic authorities will be able to scan, allowing them to identify duplicated plates or vehicle theft.

Other non-actors this year were Blue IQ and the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC). Blue IQ only featured this year for some controversy over the amount executives were being paid to attend meetings.

The GSSC was not much better. Two days of downtime for its Gauteng Online portal and closing down the electronic driver's licence testing centre was its only notable action for this year.

Visiting the DOT again - what has it actually been doing? The implementation of the new Aarto Act, which will see the allocation of demerit points to traffic law infringers and resulting in the possible suspension of licences, was postponed to 2011.

Aarto was carried over due to problems with the pilot systems in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Also, the little green books with those terrible pictures of ourselves that every adult citizen has, are testament to yet another lost project.

The smart ID card initiative, which will see cards with embedded chips in them, are going to be used for functions like the payment of pensions and social grants, among others.

Home affairs cancelled the project, saying it ran out of money after it used the R114 million allocated for the project “for other things”.

This project has been “lost” for a long time. It was originally supposed to be piloted at the end of 2008, using pensioners as the sample group, but this did not happen.

Speaking of lost things, how about the Presidency's R5.8 million in irregular expenditure because of laptops, computers and office furniture that have been “lost” over the last few years?

Subsequently, a new system has been put in place to register and track all IT equipment, since a Presidency spokesperson assured the items were not broken or damaged, but simply disappeared without a trace. Maybe he should have lied.