To reap the benefits of technology evolution for the benefit of African people, Africa's governments need to coordinate efforts in the region to achieve improved development, said communications minister Dina Pule.
Speaking yesterday at the inaugural ICT Indaba, in Cape Town, the minister said this event is a giant leap forward in positioning Africa to claim its pride of place in the technology revolution that is aimed at achieving developmental goals. “Africa's people have to be architects of their own destiny.”
She added that ICT is the infrastructure that improves the quality and widens the variety of services offered by major infrastructure programmes.
Quantum leap
“By rolling out broadband to health facilities, we can connect remote clinics to health professionals who may be based in other parts of the world. Governments can also use technology to improve the quality of the healthcare services they offer to their people... by providing health professionals with the technology they can use to monitor the patient trends and make better informed medical interventions. Clinics that are connected to the Internet can also act as community Internet caf'es that connect our people in remote areas to the knowledge and information superhighway.”
Pule said a similar quantum leap in development can be achieved by connecting schools. Internet connectivity can improve the quality of education. “Clearly, ICT infrastructure yields a greater developmental dividend from the investment made by our governments for our citizens.”
Also speaking yesterday, deputy secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Houlin Zhao, said the innovative use of ICTs will ensure people have adequate access to food, water and other necessities. “ICTs are helping humanity come together. ICTs are also rapidly removing the barriers between those with power and those without power.”
Indaba declaration
The objectives of the ICT Indaba are anchored in the fundamental view that, like other infrastructure programmes such as energy, and transport, ICT can contribute significantly to the continent's development.
Central to this coordination will be the creation of partnerships with the private sectors, labour organisations and civil organisations to find solutions to the most pressing questions of inequality, poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment on the continent, said Pule.
The Department of Communications is considering coming up with an ICT Indaba declaration which will be the final product that gives direction on what leaders in government, business, labour and individuals can do to accelerate the discourse for ICT for development.
“With her population of one billion people, Africa has the market to become a global leader in the diffusion of ICTs for its development,” said Pule. The indaba will contribute significantly to building human capital and nurturing innovation for the knowledge-based economy in SA and the rest of the continent.
“I firmly believe that Africa will bypass Asia Pacific in ICT development,” said Zhao.
Overhauling policies
Discussions at the indaba must shape the framework for using technology for socio-economic development and creating sustainable jobs, said Pule.
She explained that SA's IT sector is a leader in the fields of electronic banking services, pre-payment, revenue management and fraud prevention systems, and in the manufacture of set-top boxes.
Research by World Wide Worx shows the Internet directly contributes about 2% to the South African economic output. Pule said this is in addition to the significant contribution ICTs make in enabling all other economic sectors to be more efficient and profitable.
“Like many other countries, we have taken a decision to review and overhaul our ICT policies. We want the policies to deliver our progressive goals of achieving universal access to broadband much faster. To this end, we have invited nominees to serve on the ICT policy panel of experts, a group that will work with the department to provide for policy recommendations.”
Introducing competition
The minister also said SA has made significant progress in terms of the number of citizens who have access to the Internet. The figure now sits at over six million South Africans and in 2010 the broadband subscriber base increased by 50%.
“Much of this growth can be attributed to an impressive increase in the number of mobile broadband customers using smartphones. Mobile broadband grew by 31% in 2011 to reach 4.2 million people in the country.
“We are, however, concerned that the broadband prices remain very high, based on purchasing power parity in comparison with some OECD countries such as Mexico, Chile and Hungary. We are taking steps to address this challenge by introducing more competition in the data market.”
The ICT Indaba is hosted by the South African government in partnership with the ITU.
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