Chronicle Editor
Natasha Chamba, Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT is facilitating robust digital technology and innovation investments as it works to transform the economy into an upper middle income by 2030, a senior official has said.
Addressing delegates who attended the Data Centre Africa Expo and 2019 Conference under the theme “Accelerating Growth and Demand” in Victoria Falls last week, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and Courier Services Deputy Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere said advances in technology have opened up all kinds of new opportunities.
“Advances in technology have opened up all kinds of new opportunities, old business models are dissolving, leaving the field open for innovation,” he said.
“For Zimbabwe it is time a time of sweeping change and revolution, therefore reimagining is the best way to go. By this way we can be able to accelerate growth and demand.”
Dr Muswere said Africa’s digital market was an emerging market and the business world was calling for the ICT industry to upgrade its relationship with them through win-win partnerships.
He urged the ICT community to re-examine some fundamentally new and profoundly more efficient approaches to economic problems and improve the way the business community does business instead of just being service providers.
Dr Muswere said development of the ICT industry would target young innovators in order to empower them to commercialise their innovations and in the process creating employment and making a significant impact on the economy.
He said Government wants to invite other ICT ministers within the continent to a conference whereby they will discuss a design for the Continental Data Protection Regulation (CDPR).
“Government is building its own National Data Centre (NDC), which is now 95 percent complete. In this same vein we are considering inviting other ICT ministers within the continent to a conference whereby we will discuss how best we can design our own Continental Data Protection Regulation (CDPR). We want our African data to be hosted within our continent,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said continual refinement of the data centre strategy was needed to respond successfully to changing business needs that range from regulatory requirements to new enhanced customer relations. — @queentauruszw.
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