Deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie will lead a delegation to Cuba today to explore ICT relationships, although local analysts say "ICT" and "Cuba" have not been closely linked in local business circles.
According to a Department of Communications statement, Padayachie, accompanied by delegates from Choice Technologies and Telezero, will establish a SA/Cuba ICT Business Forum.
The trip is the result of an agreement signed between the two countries in 2003 that provides for the establishment of a joint committee that will identify ICT projects that both countries could implement and for the sharing of experiences.
The department says that while in the Cuban capital of Havana, Padayachie is expected to oversee the signing of an agreement between the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the Cuban Institution for Radio and Television, which would see the two broadcasters embark on exchange and collaboration programmes.
He is also scheduled to visit the Cuban University of Informatics and Sciences, which is known as the "Institution for the Future".
Local ICT analysts say Cuba`s relationship with the overall ICT industry is not well known in this country.
"It is either a hidden gem or an untold story," says BMI-TechKnowledge director Brian Neilson.
Craig Terblanche, business and technology advisor at MarketWorks, says Cuba is typical of a bi-polar type society, where it has pockets of excellence and glaring gaps at the same time.
"They seem to have done very interesting things within the military type of environment; however, there is a general lack of progress on other fronts," he says.
Dr Keith Shongwe, the communications department`s deputy director-general of strategic policy co-ordination and integration, will accompany the deputy minister.
Mokwining Nhlapo, chief operations officer of the Presidential National Commission, a body that advises president Thabo Mbeki on the country`s information society programme, will also be part of the delegation.
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