It`s difficult to start off a new column. Everyone expects you to introduce yourself, preferably with a loud bang or some severely opinionated piece, written to amuse and entertain. Something to set the goalposts.
Technologists call this the 'convergence of technologies', but I quite like 'communications mix'.
But for this column, I`m going to concentrate on saying a few basic things. Most people who regularly browse ITWeb and would be tempted to read a column like this are more than familiar with South African Internet industry issues, in fact, they may be a part of the industry themselves.
As an introduction, a little review of where we`re at in the SA Internet industry at the moment. Perhaps I`ll use issues from this edition in the ensuing columns and explore them further. Of course, I would very much appreciate reader feedback. My address is carsten@iafrica.com
My, how you`ve grown...
First off, the Internet in SA is growing up. This sounds like a terrible truism for those who regularly participate in industry news and happenings. And it might come as a bit of a surprise for those who still think IT is mainly about databases, accounting systems, workstations and cabling.
While "intranet" and "extranet" are last year`s and last month`s buzzwords (respectively), the general perception is rapidly becoming that `being wired` is really about making your communications as seamless as possible. This includes faxing, phoning, video conferencing, emailing, accessing the Internet and publishing, workflow on an intranet, secure comms with your suppliers or fieldworkers via an extranet, etc.
The main point, using marketing language for a minute, is that in your "communications mix" (a la marketing mix), the Internet is an important base component. In a sense, it forms a good portion of your communications strategy. Technologists call this the "convergence of technologies", but I quite like "communications mix".
This means that integrating the Internet into an IT manager`s activity profile is no longer a luxurious option, but is now on the brink of becoming a must. Something on which your performance will be judged at the end of a year. And - would you believe? - more than 10% of SA`s top 200 companies according to IT spend still don`t have an Internet connection.
Judge Says Internet Is Important
Latest news in the regulatory arena - just in last week - indicated that the general public is finally starting to take some sort of interest in the developments on the regulatory front. While it seems that this topic has been flogged to death in the IT industry publications, the general public has been blissfully uninformed (despite our best efforts).
But now a Judge in Pretoria has come back with a prelimiary finding on a case that Telkom brought against SATRA and the ISPA last year. The case hoped to get a procedural judgement against SATRA`s finding that Internet services in South Africa are VANS (Value-Added Network Service).
SATRA, as most of the parties conceded at one point or another, might not have followed its own rules completely during the original ruling process. The judgment, much to the ISPA`s delight, referred the case to oral evidence later in the year.
Why is this relevant to you, I hear you ask? Well, I think it`s important from a social point of view. SA society, and its appointed law-keepers, has, for the first time, indicated that there is a broader, social interest to be taken in the actual matter at hand (i.e. Telkom`s alleged monopoly over IP/Internet services), and not the procedure.
I think this is significant, because it expresses a growing general awareness that "The Internet" and everything that goes with it has turned into something that is of primary social concern, and not just a little network in the domain of the techies. Perhaps this judgment implies that SA society and government will finally take us seriously. Perhaps it means nothing much after all. Time will tell.
Round Pegs...
Another issue that I think will become increasingly important to SA`s Internet industry in the course of 1998 is the undifferentiated nature of its associations and industry bodies.
Anyone who knows me knows that this is a hobby horse of mine, but think about it for a moment and I`m sure you will see why I think it`s an issue. The Internet Access Providers (IAPs) have an association called the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), SA`s oldest and best-known industry association. The ISPA restricts its business to access providers, wisely. It cannot take upon itself all the issues pertaining to the Internet.
What`s lacking at this point is an organisation of content providers. Sure, there is ABIS, but personally I`m not convinced ABIS will do anything than count page accesses and get them audited. It`s their job to do this. But what we`re missing is an association of SA Web content providers and online traders.
An interest group that will take into account and respond to threats of censorship, content regulation, content taxes, Internet trading taxes, Internet gambling, the conflation of "access provider" with "content provider", etc. Need I go on? There are all these issues that need clarification, and - at the very least - a competent industry body to take care of them when they happen. And happen they will, if the US model is anything to go by.
Moves are underway to form and formalise something called ECASA, an Electronic Commerce Association. This sounds interesting and is probably well worth an investigation. But there`s definite need for an overall Web content and trading association that will address all the issues that access providers currently have to deal with and don`t want to.
IAPs aren`t really geared to policing Web sites or rolling out Active Channels. The industry has shown in the past two years that IAPs and Internet Content Providers (ICPs), often inside the same company, are separate entities in their interests as well as their business models.
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