ICT Policies and Strategies in Rwanda, Namibia & South Africa

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ICT Policies and Strategies in Rwanda, Namibia
South Africa

• Jonathan Miller PhD
• July 2001

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The View from Africa

• Great International Interest in the Digital
  Divide
• UN (UNITeS), HealthInternetwork
• G8 Okinawa Charter
• DOT Force
• Genoa Plan of Action
• Commonwealth Secretariat
• Multitude of International Donors

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Contrasting ICT Policy Issues

• The Developing World
• Alleviating Poverty
• Health
• Education
• The Cost of Telephone Calls
• The Banking System
• Physical Logistics

• The developed World
• Electronic Commerce
• Universal Service
• Electronic Gambling
• Technology Neutral Taxation
• Privacy of the Individual

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The Starting Point

• ICT is good for social/economic development
• There is a growing digital divide
• There is an untapped ICT market in developing
  countries

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Interest within Africas 53 Countries

• ISAD Conference 1996
• UNECA AISI
• Spreading the benefits of ICTs equitably and
  quickly
• The NICI Process 22 countries
• SADC Policy Guidelines for Info-based Economy
• COMESA E-Commerce, Trade Investment

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Particular Countries

• South Africa
• Namibia
• Rwanda
• Tanzania
• Mozambique

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Progress in South Africa

• 1994 marked the turning point
• The Reconstruction and Development Programme
  (RDP) set the vision for the country.
• We had an agreed basis to measure many policies,
  programmes and projects

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South Africas Vision

• Balance growth with development and place
  simultaneous emphasis on redressing the present
  regional, racial, gender and structural
  imbalances in the economy

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Major ICT Initiatives1996-2001

• National Research and Technology Foresight
• Information Technology National Qualifications
  Framework
• Electronic Commerce Policy Process
• SA Information Technology Industry Strategy

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Foresight Priorities

• FutureWeb
• E-Tagging
• Knowledge Management
• ICT Supported New Learning Methods

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Cross-Cutting Top 20 Responses

• High ICT Component
• Safety Security, Finance, Tourism
• Medium ICT Component
• Mining, Manufacturing
• Low ICT Component
• Agriculture, Health, Environment, Energy,
  Biodiversity.

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SA IT Industry Strategy Project(www.saitis.co.za)

• A coordinated ICT industry strategy
• ICT-enabled growth of businesses across the
  entire economy
• A robust ICT industry
• A country poised for the Information Age

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Strategy Development Framework
ICT Sector
ICT Usage
Infrastructure
Industry Structure

Sustaining Environment
Applications/Content
Global Competitiveness
Market
Employment/Workforce
Research Development
Labour Issues
Intellectual Property
Education/Training
Knowledge Transfer
ICT Literacy
Innovation
Human Resources
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SAITIS Follow-on Projects

• Sustainability Structures and Processes
• Labour Market Statistics
• ICT Portal
• ICT Cluster Development
• Youth Internship Program
• Black ICT SMME Development

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Namibia

• Our vision is that Namibia will be an
  industrialised state by 2030, with a significant
  improvement in the essential quality of life of
  all Namibians.

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Namibia's ICT Policy Process 1998-2001

• NICI Process commenced in 1998
• Telecommunication Framework 1999
• Draft ICT Policy tabled 2001
• Far-sighted Minister of Information

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Namibian Priorities for Implementation

• Enhance rural access to information 
• Grow and stabilise the ICT professional community
• Facilitate excellent ICT public education,
  especially in schools
• Foster e-commerce, e-business and e-government
• Strengthen the existing ICT infrastructure
• Create an ICT Cluster

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Critical Success Factors

• A strong national body with committed leadership
  to guide the implementation of ICT Policy
• A detailed implementation plan that
• defines indicators against which to measure
  success
• lays out practical growth steps towards
  achievable targets
• names responsible parties
• and sets realistic timelines

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Rwanda
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Rwanda
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Rwanda Vision 2020

• To develop Rwanda into a middle income country by
  Year 2020 (current GDP per capita is 200)
• To modernize the Rwandan economy and society
  using ICTs as an engine for
• accelerated development and economic growth
• national prosperity
• global competitiveness

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Rwanda

• 1998 ICT Policy process commenced
• 2000 ICT Policy tabled and endorsed by President
  Kagame
• 2001 First 5-year 500 million Plan tabled (400
  pages)
• Presidential Drive for Rwanda to become a
  Regional Services Centre

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Other Countries

• Mozambique
• National ICT Commission in place
• 2000 ICT Policy accepted by government
• 2001 Implementation Process in the making
• Driven by Prime Minister
• Tanzania
• 1997 Started an ICT policy process
• 1997 Published a telecommunications policy
• 2000 eThinkTank launched
• 2001 First attempts to initiate ICT Policy
  process

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Tanzanian Internet Cafes
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Similarities and Differences

• All believe in the potential of ICT
• All emphasize human resource development
• All espouse high level collaboration
• All struggle to marry public and private
  role-players
• All are small enough to contemplate national
  initiatives

• Some set seriously unrealistic goals
• Some use ICT as a political lever
• Policy process
• The grand plan
• Multiple plans
• Targeted interventions
• critical success factors

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The Emperors New Clothes?

• Expensive
• Take a long time
• No follow through to implementation
• Long on assessments but very short on visible
  results
• The process is getting bogged down

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Other Concerns

• Lack of insight into dynamics of ICT usage
• No cumulative tradition of research
• No coordination of initiatives
• Donor-Driven Agenda

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jonmil_at_icon.co.za