SA is the first and only African country to have been granted official observer status to the Information Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The second OECD ministerial conference is currently under way in Seoul, Korea, and SA`s minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, is representing the country at the gathering.
The OECD has embarked on a strategy called "enhanced engagement" and SA is one of five countries that have been identified to participate in this process.
The ministerial conference will address the role of the Internet in the 21st century as a critical infrastructure on which the world depends to support economic growth, innovation, and social development, and will focus on security issues.
Matsepe-Casaburri says that there is a need to protect and empower consumers online by ensuring secured online transactions.
The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act provides for the appointment of cyber inspectors, but "there is a need for building a culture of security in the face of rapid technological and socioeconomic changes and illiteracy levels, particularly in developing countries, is urgent," says the minister.
In her 2008 budget vote speech, Matsepe-Casaburri said that the issue of cyber security is high on the national agenda.
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