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Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
Government has reaffirmed its dedication to enhancing nationwide connectivity, recognising it as a crucial element for implementing smart solutions across the country.
Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Tatenda Mavetera made the commitment yesterday at the Smart Zimbabwe Conference and Expo held in Harare.
Running under the theme, “Zimbabwe’s Smart Future: Harnessing Innovation for Economic Growth,” the inaugural Smart Zimbabwe Conference and Expo brought together leaders from industry, technology innovators, urban planners and Government officials.
“Government is committed to improving access to connectivity across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe,” Minister Mavetera said.
“We are grateful to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, for expanding our basket of connectivity options through the authorisation of low earth orbit satellite technology to complement the existing fibre network.
“This connectivity must be complemented by other infrastructure such as data centres and private clouds that allow us to locally host our data in Zimbabwe.”
Minister Mavetera challenged the private and public sectors to come up with solutions to promote access to affordable smart devices.
“We are equally aware of the importance of skills and capacity building to ensure that all our people can safely and effectively interact with smart solutions.
“As we focus on the attainment of a Smart Zimbabwe, we must be alive to how Government itself must also become a Smart Government. In the quest for a Smart Zimbabwe, the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into governance is essential.”
As Zimbabwe pursues a more connected future, Minister Mavetera said, it was crucial to prioritise the development of these ICT-driven governance models.
“This not only addresses governance challenges but also sets a foundation for the next phase of development: the role of data analytics in decision-making processes, which will further propel the vision of a Smart Zimbabwe.
“The Government is in this regard walking the talk with active efforts being made to digitalise all Government services and to roll out smart concepts in education, health, agriculture, local government and policing among others.”
WestProp Holdings chief executive officer Mr Ken Sharpe and ICT, Postal and Courier Services Permanent Secretary Dr Beaullar Chirume were among the key figures in attendance.
Mr Sharpe, who presented on “Smart Property Development: Integrating Technology for Sustainable Urban Growth,” implored Zimbabweans to invest in modernising their cities.
“Because of increased rural-to-urban migration, we have to manage the limited resources the city has. These include land, water and electricity,” he said.
“According to the United Nations, by 2050 almost 70 percent of the world population will be in urban areas.
“Data-driven analytics will help to develop the insights, agility and improve decision-making to help coordinate city management efforts and streamline delivery of services. We need sensors and the IoT (Internet of Things) to collect this valuable data.”
Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) computer science and software engineering researcher, Engineer Tererai Maposa said he had designed a new software application to plug loopholes and enhance the efficiency of internal financial and information systems for the country’s local authorities.
The software product called the Local Authorities Digital Systems (LADS) is designed to automate operations at local authorities.
Eng Maposa said the innovation dovetails well with the Smart Zimbabwe 2030 Master Plan, a comprehensive strategy that lays out the country’s strategy to see Zimbabwe attain a smart nation status by the year 2030.
Speaking at the same event, Zimshop chief executive officer Mr Rufaro Nyadembe said, “We have a lot of people out there with solutions for a Smart Zimbabwe, so we decided to create this platform where they can showcase their various solutions and brought the Government on board, so it can also see what the private sector has in store in terms of smart cities.
“We also want to the thank Minister of ICT for clearly stating that her Ministry has an open-door policy to innovators and other stakeholders.”
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