The North West Province today commenced its ICT Indaba, which will run until Friday. The provincial consultative indaba is being hosted in Rustenburg by the premier's office.
The objective of the two-day summit is to provide a platform for government and the ICT industry to engage on the broad roadmap for the development, implementation and maintenance of baseline ICT infrastructure and e-governance service, says the premier's office.
Technology explosion
This is in order to assist the provincial government in creating a roadmap to align current systems to future trends and plans; engage with stakeholder and share related experiences where governments or companies have planned for similar goals; analyse and predict current and future ICT trends; and identify possible partners in the ICT sector and determine the role they would play to assist the province to realise its socio-economic objectives.
“The explosion and demand for technology over the first half of the 21st century is leading governments to start the process of interacting with relevant stakeholders to improve service delivery. The ICT Indaba that will bring together various stakeholders and players in the ICT sector will therefore assist the provincial government to plan the way forward on how to use ICT to improve the lives of citizens in the province,” says premier Thandi Modise.
Presentations to be delivered by various public and private partners in commissions will cover ICT for improved service delivery; ICT skills required by the province; monitoring and evaluation systems; delivery model governance; telemedicine, health records, and e-learning; ICTs for rural development; digitisation of local content; and expanding access to communication technology/broadband.
Educated society
Earlier this month, Modise launched an ICT social upliftment programme for rural communities.
The provincial government said the project will empower previously-disadvantaged, rural and under-serviced peri-urban communities through increased access to information.
“The objective of the Ulwazi Express programme, supported by the Department of Trade and Industry and endorsed by the Department of Science and Technology, is to catalyse the integration of people from rural communities into the mainstream economy by providing them with general knowledge, current information on matters of public interest and importance, including career guidance.”
It adds that the rollout of the programme has been in operation for the past two years and is running at 27 sites in the province.
It offers free access to educational and informative content through enhanced ICT digital infrastructure in order to improve innovation.
“Innovation only flourishes in an educated society, hence the programme seeks to create better informed communities through the world-class local and international informative content,” said Modise.
The provincial government also said the project is facilitating the building of a knowledge-based economy through an informative and educational channel to Thusong centres, tele-centres, educational-support centres, clinics, schools and Further Education and Training centres.
Share
