growing the economy;

job creation;

health;

rural development;

agriculture; and

the diversification of production and exports, with a focus on market access for goods to    industrialised countries.

Building Capacity for an Information Society

 

Policy and Regulation Development

 

Often, and in co-operation with international and regional organisations, government contributes to the Information Society through tax and other incentives, using existing parastatal companies, regulatory agencies, educational institutions…

“There is, however, a crucial public policy dimension which rests on the shoulders of the government and on the people's elected representatives - ensuring that this Information Society supports and enhances the objectives of development, empowerment, economic development and preserves the constitutional values on which the whole national edifice is built.” – Thabo Mbeki

The government is faced with the challenge of ensuring that policies related to ICTs are in harmony with other existing or newly formulated government policies. When examining the relationship between these two types of policies, there is often an overlap between them – and sometimes existing policies may be seen to inhibit ICT development. Should this be the case, then amendments should be made to create harmony.

The liberalisation of sectors can also be viewed as a strategy for government to promote competition and bring in much needed foreign direct investment for economic development. Once a sector is liberalised, the government’s next task will be to ensure the formation of a well established and equipped regulator to deal with potential irregularities within the sector. The PNC has dedicated a team of professionals to the Policy Development Standing Committee to ensure optimal capacity-building in this area.

 

Infrastructure Development

 

“To government and business, one must add communities and organisations of civil “… there would be no Information Society withou proper infrastructure and delivery mechanisms adapted to the global development needs of the people... We are not talking only of the rich neighbourhoods in major cities, but also of the small villages and townships, rural and remote areas; not only of residential, industrial and downtown business districts, but also schools, hospitals, colleges and universities.” – Thabo Mbeki

Infrastructure backlog is one of the major obstacles the country has to overcome before it achieves real development. Two elements underpin the discussion around developing ICT infrastructure. These are affordability and accessibility.

The roll-out targets of supplying infrastructure to under-serviced areas will only be met if users can afford both the technological equipment and the services related to their operation.

Both the physical location and the design of a particular technology will determine its utilisation. This means that technology must not only be within reach of the people for whom it is intended, but that it must be accessible regardless of age or physical disability.

The PNC has dedicated a team of professionals to the Technical Standing Committee to ensure optimal capacity-building in this area.

 

Content

 

“Content in news, educational, cultural and entertainment programmes, songs, games … plays a pivotal role in the building of the Information Society... Therefore the creation, production and formulation of content must be encouraged at all levels, not only at the national level of all developing countries but, within the same nation, at the local and community levels, to ensure that developing nations do not remain information consumers of a content conceived by others.” – Thabo Mbeki

Content is mainly about language, sound, visuals and data. The main stakeholders - publishers, manufacturers of electronic equipment, telecommunication companies etc - need to encourage local content development with translations and adaptations to fulfil the needs of consumers. To build up local content, we must encourage the support of local stakeholders in setting technical standards for local languages and developing national programmes. The PNC has dedicated a team of professionals to the Content Standing Committee to ensure optimal capacity-building in this area.

 

Application

 

“Beyond the status of an information technology user, industry and trade must encourage training, foster internal communication by using modern technologies, invest in long term initiatives, and assist schools and hospitals with communication and information equipment and systems... In turn, these actions benefit the people and the business community alike, making the people better and more educated workers, more powerful consumers, significant investors, better doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs and teachers, and increasing their numbers.” – Thabo Mbeki

The application of ICTs in communities varies according to their needs - be it agriculture, health or government services. ICTs must thus be relevant to communities to address their needs. A business transaction - such as electronic banking where funds and credit payments are processed using a computer - is a typical example of an ICT application. This is e-business. Other examples include: e-education, where distance learning makes it possible for an instructor to communicate with students from a distance using technology, e-agriculture, where the application of remote sensing satellites could be used to monitor agriculture productions, soil texture, and land and water resources, e-health, which could eliminate the long process of waiting for doctors to prescribe medication in areas where access to doctors is difficult, e-government, where the public would be able to obtain documentation such as ID books online, e-communication, where communication across all sectors of society is facilitated with the use of telephone, the Internet, video conferencing and other ICT tools. The PNC has dedicated a team of professionals to the Application Standing Committee to ensure optimal capacity-building in this area.