State boost for telecoms structure
Numerous government initiatives that affect the information and communications technology (ICT) sector are being lumped together under a new umbrella scheme dubbed ICT for All.
So far the plans are tentative, but Deputy Communications Minister Radhakrishna Padayachee has called on all companies in the sector to back his goals. The first step will be a national campaign to promote the need for every citizen to be touched by technology. Some more tangible plans were also being explored, Padayachee said at the Internetix conference hosted by Internet Solutions yesterday.
One plan is to overhaul the system of telecentres after the failure of many computing and telephony centres in rural areas.
The government is also investigating the One Laptop per Child scheme developed by technology luminary Nicholas Negroponte to manufacture laptops for less than $100. The scope for producing computer hardware locally to make it more affordable is being explored. An ICT Skills Council may be formed to assess the skills deficit and work out how to ensure educational institutes offer the right training.
Steps are also being taken to develop a better broadband strategy and ensure analogue broadcasting technologies go digital in time for SA to meet its commitments as 2010 World Cup host.
Padayachee said: “The programme has been brewing for the last six to eight months and now we have put it together and set up an institute to drive it.”
The aims were to cut the cost of doing business in SA, make the country more attractive to foreign investors and close the gap between the first and second economies by giving people access to technologies.
“It’s absolutely accepted that telecommunications offers us a fantastic instrument to achieve these outcomes. ICT is a trampoline for development and a tool to leverage us out of poverty.”
Housing numerous technology initiatives under the ICT for All banner would avoid duplication of effort, he said. The department was already working on policy changes to lower telecommunications costs, modernise and expand the technology infrastructure and plug the skills gap.
“There is indeed a tremendous ICT skills deficit in this country,” he said. “If SA is to be a leading nation in the knowledge economy we have to overhaul our policies, infrastructure, human capital and research and development. What is needed is nothing short of a revolution in ICT to make SA a winning nation among the global best. I have thrown my hat into this particular ring.”
ICT for All was an “innovative and imaginative programme which will transform the ICT landscape over the next few years”, said Padayachee.
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