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Speaking at a national ICT policy review consultative process at a Gwanda hotel on Monday, Governor Masuku said ICTs were pivotal to the development of society and youths should grasp them in promoting economic growth.
“ICTs in a modern world cannot be looked down upon. I believe people, especially among our youths, are poor because they are not well connected, they need information to assist them. This new policy that we will come up with will assist our people even to get rid of poverty,” she said.
Governor Masuku said ICTs formed an integral part of collecting and disseminating information that could positively impact people’s lives.
However, she bemoaned the damage ICTs could cause to society.
“I would want to see that there is very little that will come in to dilute our culture and traditions because being in a global village does not change who we are. These ICTs should not leave us as Zimbabweans who don’t know themselves, where we come from and where we are going. They should benefit us and also brighten the future of our children,” said Governor Masuku.
She said the recently launched e-learning programme at Landa J Nkomo High School in Tsholotsho should also spread to other provinces to ensure that all citizens were abreast of the global happenings and adopt those that could transform the country for the better.
“We hope the project which was launched in Matabeleland North will cascade to all our districts so that they catalyse development,” said Governor Masuku.
The consultative process was attended by district administrators, chief executive officers of rural district councils and Government officials.
In an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICTs, Engineer Sam Kundishora, said although the national ICT policy had tremendously served the country in terms of development, there was a need to review it to ensure that it accommodated issues to do with e-transactions, cyber crime and cyber security.
“This policy has served Zimbabwe very well and anchored the ICTs development to date. Due to rapid technological developments in the sector, the policy is no longer comprehensive enough to cater for these developments. This has called for an urgent need to revise the policy such that it is aligned to the current technological developments in the ICT sector,” he said.
The consultative process sought to get an input of the Matabeleland South Province towards the ICT policy review.
The Ministry is working with the National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) to consult stakeholders on the new policy.
The team has already held consultations in Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo.
“These inputs will be validated before a draft is out by end of next month,” said Eng Kundishora.
World leaders met in Geneva in December 2003 and appended their signatures to a declaration of principles and action plan that laid a foundation for ICT society and President Mugabe was among them.
After that the country conducted an e-readiness survey between 2003 and 2004 with consultants from the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) while the survey was conducted under the guidance of NECF and the Ministry of Science and Technology Development.
A national ICT policy was developed and launched in 2007 and it is this policy that is being amended.
Online Reporter