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Zimbabwe:
National Information & Communication Technology Project
ICT.org.zw
October 21, 2004
Background
The Government of Zimbabwe in close cooperation with the National
Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) aims at creating a sustainable
knowledge society/economy through the effective use of ICT by developing
a coherent National ICT Strategy. The project is funded by UNDP
and executed through the Department of Science and Technology Development.
The intended final project outcome is the National ICT Strategies
Document being formulated and linked to the national Millennium
Development Goals. The project will achieve this by undertaking
several activities including e-readiness surveys, conducting awareness
campaigns and organizing stakeholder workshops.
Why a National
ICT Strategy?
Zimbabwe has not undertaken any comprehensive survey and analysis
of the state of ICT, nor is the population in general particularly
in the rural remote areas fully aware of the potential of ICT in
enabling access to information and contributing to the developmental
efforts. Zimbabwe needs to establish the level of the digital divide
in the country. A well defined National ICT Strategy would enable
Zimbabwe to effectively participate in the global market along with
other countries that have embraced ICT and the knowledge economy.
The need for cooperation and co-ordination of various initiatives
by the government, the private sector and other stakeholders in
order to optimise the allocation and utilisation of ICT resources.
The need to formulate an encompassing and holistic National ICT
Policy.
Project Initiation
National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) organised, and Africa
Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) sponsored a dialogue at St Lucia
Park on 10 October 2003 to start the debate on the National ICT
Policy formulation An agreement between Department of Science and
Technology Development in the Office of the President and Cabinet
and UNDP was signed at the end of October 2003
Project Goals
The project aims to create a sustainable knowledge society/economy
in Zimbabwe through the effective use of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) by developing a holistic and coherent National
ICT strategy
Processes
of the Project
Conduct e-Readiness survey. e-Readiness is a measure of the e-business
environment, several factors indicate how amenable a market is to
Internet based opportunities. There will be an in-depth diagnosis
and assessment of Zimbabwe’s:
- Connectivity
and technology infrastructure required to support ICT and its
applications
- Business
environment and Consumer and business adoption
- policies
and regulatory framework
- Social and
cultural environment including financial and human capabilities
to use the technology
- Supporting
e-Services
Conduct e-Period
activities. This will be a public awareness campaign through: –electronic
and print media –panel discussions
- workshops
and exhibitions using existing facilities
- outreach
to educational institutions and schools.
Produce a
National ICT strategy document
This document will highlight areas of focus and resources needed
to effectively deal with ICT issues. The Strategy Document will
also form the basis of the national ICT Policy.
This will entail
the following:
- the development
of a National ICT strategy and its applications
- on-going
assessments based on the information gathered during the e-Readiness
and e-Period activities.
Management
and admin structure
The Department of Science and Technology Development is the National
Execution agent of the project The UNDP in collaboration with the
Government of Zimbabwe are the financing agents of the project There
is a National ICT Project Steering Committee that is driving the
project There is a National ICT Project Office that is responsible
for the day to day running of the project and reports to the National
ICT Steering Committee There are Consultants who conduct the fieldwork
and produce the reports. –National University of Science and Technology
(NUST)
Progress
to date
Currently conducting the first phase of the project
e-Readiness survey Eight workshops were conducted nationwide
- Harare on
31/08/2004
- Bulawayo
on 07/09/2004
- Lupane on
09/09/2004
- Mutare on
13/09/2004
- Masvingo
on 15/09/2004
- Gweru on
17/09/2004
- Chinhoyi
on 20/09/2004
- Bindura on
22/09/2004
Next Steps
Completion of the e-Readiness Phase by the end of October 2004 e-Period
activities will follow in November 2004. This will be followed by
Draft National ICT Policy Framework and Strategy
Contact details
Telephone: 253520/2/3
Fax: 726808
Email: mmarongwe@zarnet.ac.zw
or dngwenya@zarnet.ac.zw
Wep page: www.ict.org.zw
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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