Nine months of Citizen Jane, nine months of giggling uproariously, or pulling my hair out in chunks, whenever some or other aspect of the industry failed to work the way it should, with me usually the victim of its failings.
Sadly, this is the last Citizen Jane I will "pen", bent over my keyboard, crying tears of frustration. So, I thought perhaps I should end on a slightly more positive note, because, while the consequence of failed IT is dire, the consequence of no IT at all is worse.
Promises
From the start, 2007 promised to be the year of broadband. I certainly hope so; we could all do with "fasta" access to the Net, as Polka puts it in that rather daft bodybuilding advertisement.
On the bright side, prices are coming down, albeit slowly, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that may turn out not to be a train, with the impending arrival of both Infraco and Neotel.
Although, with their arrival expected for some time, some more cynical folk may quip: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Our esteemed minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, has recently, again, told all of us the digital divide will no longer be tolerated. This means that, in addressing the cost of communications, we have to ensure broadband is not a scarce commodity, or a commodity to be enjoyed by a few who are privileged by either income and/or geographic location, she said last week. Good, but I won't hold my breath waiting.
However, bridging the digital divide is contingent on funding, and other bridges - such as electricity - without which computers are rendered useless.
Money, money, money
Bridging the digital divide is contingent on funding, and other bridges - such as electricity - without which computers are rendered useless.
Nicola Mawson, senior journalist, ITWeb
Financing is still an issue, with a kitty of R3 billion available for both of SA's state broadband companies to access, assuming they sort out apparent differences in opinion as to who will do what job.
Until then, Sentech's countrywide network to service rural areas remains a pipedream, as does a cheaper undersea pipe. Unless, of course, a masked superhero comes to the party. Watch this space.
On the topic of watching, from the end of next year, SA has set itself three years to convert from normal telly to a more advanced, digital kind. This should go down in everyone's diaries as a "not to be missed" spectacular as deadlines are tight, and some aspects, like spectrum, are yet to be wrapped up.
Go open
Another long-awaited initiative is for government's open source project to finally bear fruit. However, I don't think open source on its own is the cure some within the country's head office may hope it is. It is certainly not going to cure - on its own - all that ails government departments, and neither is throwing money at the initiative.
Finance minister Trevor Manuel made a good start this year, when he earmarked funding for IT systems to assist these departments, which I would guess have a filing system reminiscent of papers lodged under a coffee cup, and could do with a good kick-start to join the rest of us in this century.
Many, many more projects and endeavours are in the pipeline, enough to take up considerable space on the World Wide Web, and too many to cover in one short column.
But, if all these projects come to fruition, a virtual Garden of Eden awaits us. So, hopefully, some of that red tape can be untangled for the good of all.
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