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Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
ACCESS to and use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) should become pervasive in all facets of life leading to digitalisation of the economy as envisioned by National Development Strategy (NDS1), a Cabinet Minister said.
Addressing delegates at the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) 2021 Annual General Meeting last week, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere said Potraz should ensure every community in Zimbabwe has good network coverage.
“Potraz should ensure that every community in Zimbabwe has good network coverage. We should ensure that ICT gadgets are affordable to all citizens. We all have a responsibility to ensure that no-one is left behind. Access to and use of ICTs should become pervasive in all facets of life leading to digitalisation of the economy as envisioned by NDS1,” said Dr Muswere.
He said by the end of 2022, Government will ensure that the first phase of a digital economy is achieved.
Dr Muswere said Potraz plays a pivotal role in the attainment of a digital economy by directly contributing towards provision of ICT infrastructure or indirectly by creating an enabling regulatory environment which attracts investment into the ICT sector and promotes innovation.
“The Board must provide strategic leadership which should steer Potraz and the whole ICT sector towards attainment of a Smart Zimbabwe. In this vein, Potraz must strengthen its research and development in order to keep abreast of technological changes as well as harnessing emerging technologies for the benefit of the country,” he added.
He said as they journey towards a digital economy, non-performers would be dismissed in the interests of universal access.
Dr Muswere said the targets for the year 2022 in line with Cabinet resolutions were smart education with 4 000 schools each equipped with an ICT laboratory and connected by working with ZarNet as by December.
He said for smart health there would be deployment of 1 500 health centres in terms of telemedicine by 2022 and nursing colleges to ensure video interaction between patients and health experts.
The Minister added: “Under smart agriculture, 100 agricultural institutions should be equipped and connected to ensure agriculture information management. There will be E-Government deployment by upgrading community information centres (CIC) to ensure universal access to passports, IDs, birth and death certificates.”
Among other targets he said they would connect and equip 4 000 schools via private sector participation.
Dr Muswere said for smart education, all training centres, teacher’s colleges, universities in the country should be equipped and connected to cater for students without gadgets and connectivity.
The Minister said there would be investment in safe city projects starting with Harare to ensure use of digital technologies.
He added: “We appreciate the great strides in the deployment of CICs and assistance of computers – e-learning.
We need to do a digital infrastructure plan redeployment for 2022, the infrastructure policy should be deployed. 100 towers should be redeployed at the cost of Potraz. With the passing of the Cyber and Data Protection Act, Potraz should be re-structured starting next year, to reflect a digital economy.”
Dr Muswere urged Potraz to work with the private sector for more investment to triple in the economy in line with NDS1.
He said to domesticate value chains, President Mnangagwa commissioned the national device factory at TelOne which should fully be utilised by Potraz as well.
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