The Department of Communications` strategy for 2006/07 seems to focus on talking about talks, rather than actually getting things done, and this, unfortunately, could mean another opportunity lost.
Last week when presenting the strategy to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications, the department proudly presented its mandate as: "To create a favourable ICT environment that ensures SA has capacity to advance its socio-economic development goals, support the renewal of Africa and build a better world."
Quite honestly, I would have been as satisfied if it had said it would ensure the long-awaited Electronic Communications and ICASA Amendment Bills were passed this year, rather than aiming for some new dawn vision.
To be fair, the malaise in the development and implementation of ICT policy isn`t entirely the department`s fault. As a government department, it has to also fit in with broader national policies and agendas, many not of its own making.
For instance, this year government announced its latest iteration of its economic policy, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA, which entails spending R372 billion on infrastructure development.
Within this economic policy are clear missions for all national, provincial and local government entities to deliver on their mandates and create job opportunities. However, for the department, the reality is a subtle shift in its policy of managed liberalisation of the ICT sector as it places its focus on what organisations it can directly control to implement this policy.
Consider this
Telkom is no longer under the department`s direct operational control, while Sentech is, so this means the latter now becomes the means by which telecommunications costs must be reduced - and not the second national operator as originally envisaged.
No doubt the analysts found the country`s ICT policies too confusing and turgid to make any sense of them.
Paul Vecchiatto, Cape Town correspondent
Furthermore, the Universal Services Agency and its offspring, the underserviced area licensees (USALs), were not mentioned at all in the strategy. Is this a tacit acknowledgement that past government policies directing competition and service access have failed? If so, then surely it must mean such policies using another form of execution, such as Sentech, have little more chance of success.
Another measure of the success of the country`s ICT policies must be the recently released World Economic Forum Global IT Report, which shows SA`s ranking dropped three positions during the last year to 37th place. Five years ago this country was at 11th place.
Department of Communications director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole responded that many people in SA who can afford to use ICTs are unaware of them.
Shope-Mafole also said that often this study involved some analysts coming to the country for two days before submitting their report. She added that the country would soon "rank within the top 10".
No doubt the analysts found the country`s ICT policies too confusing and turgid to make any sense of them.
What now?
So rather than deliver a simple and achievable strategy, the department has outlined an impressive list of goals and key focus areas that have little chance of being realised.
It appears only large ICT companies will continue to prosper, as they can afford the regulatory and policy lobbyists that will influence policy decisions. Meanwhile, the small companies, including the USALs, from which real innovation and employment spring, will be left to wither and die.
Yep - this strategy is essentially talks about talks and little in terms of real implementation.
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