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THE Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, says digital solutions hold the key to sustainable economic transformation and recovery from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In remarks during a Judicial Service Commission ICT virtual training workshop last Friday, he said adoption of ICT-based approaches was gaining momentum.
“We have all realised the importance of ICTs particularly due to the Covid-19 pandemic where we are seeing the rapid growth of teleworking and high demand for digital solutions in the economy, including for the judiciary,” he said.
The Government, through the National Development Strategy (NDS1) that was launched by President Mnangagwa in November last year, has identified the digital economy as one of the key priorities leading to a digitally enabled society, said the minister.
“This training workshop, therefore, dovetails with the aspirations of the Government in its quest to have a digitally literate population in the journey to become an upper middle-income society by the year 2030,” he added.
“The National Development Strategy also identifies human capital development as a key driver for the country’s prospects towards Vision 2030. The focus of human capital development is on creating a knowledge driven economy for sustained growth and modernisation of Zimbabwe.”
Due to their pervasive nature, Dr Muswere said ICTs have proved to be a transformative force in all sectors of the economy — becoming the cornerstone for increased productivity, efficiency and effectiveness businesses.
He said ICTs were also relevant to the judiciary as the technologies facilitate the delivery of legal services to the communities.
The minister called upon the sector to also embrace the digital revolution and deliver services against a backdrop of immense challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For the Judiciary, it is incumbent that at this particular time when you are implementing the Case Management System all the Judges and other staff are trained in ICTs in order to effectively use the system,” said the minister.
“The system will be a useful tool for text creation, storage and retrieval of information, improved access to the law, recording of court proceedings, management of judiciary administrative systems and communication among other areas.
“The modernisation of the courts through the introduction of this e-justice system will certainly enhance the efficiencies within the judiciary ecosystem.”
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