Agriculture, Civil Society, Economy, Education, Government, Health, Human Resource Development, Infrastructure, and Research and Development

Agriculture - efficiency, productivity and security, sustainability, commercialisation, accessibility to information, networking, information and communication technology (ICT) training, and geographical information system (GIS) technologies.

Civil Society - Community access and service delivery, public information kiosks, public awareness, and cultural preservation.

Economy - ICT industry and private sector development; legal, regulatory and institutional framework; foreign direct investment; entrepreneurial development; rural development; private sector development; public/private partnership, e-commerce, regulating electronic cash payment systems; internet security; and intellectual property rights.

Education - accessibility and quality of educational system, ICT literacy and awareness, technical and vocational education, standards and guidelines, gender equity, vulnerable groups, networking of educational institutions and libraries, and private sector partnership.

Government - E-government, efficiency, effectiveness, organisational systems, human resource capability, communications systems, transparency, accountability, and universal access.

Health - administration, efficiency, accessibility, telemedicine, health promotion, and electronic health networks.

Human Resource Development - ICT literacy, national guideline, standards, and accreditation systems for ICT, industry/academic networks, and civil and public sector training.

Infrastructure - IT and physical infrastructure development, local content and applications development, ICT systems security and standards, legal and regulatory framework, licensing procedures, law enforcement, interconnectivity and interoperability, rural and urban connectivity, and private sector investment.

Research and Development - private/public sector partnership, funding, innovation, investment, and human resource development.

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

According to the source document, this policy aims to exploit the opportunities created by ICT in order to achieve rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, facilitate good governance and a healthy democratic system and to generally improve the social and economic well being of the peoples of Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Information and Communications Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) is mandated under the Ministry of Capacity Building to formulate ICT policies and strategies, and coordinate their implementation. Its basic objective is to create an enabling environment for the development of ICT and for its effective application to the process of national development.

The key strategies outlined in the policy document include human resource development, physical and ICT infrastructure development, ICT for governance/e-government, ICT industry and private sector development, electronic commerce, community access and service delivery, local content and applications development, ICT for research and development, ICT systems security and standards, the legal and regulatory environment, promotion of ICT in education, use of ICT in health, and ICT for agricultural modernisation.

The overall goal of the policy is to transform Ethiopia, through an ICT-driven socio-economic development process, from an agriculture-based economy and society to a predominantly knowledge- and information-based economy and society with deep-rooted democratic culture and good governance.

The wide-ranging objectives of the policy are as follows:

Accelerate the socio-economic development process within the economy and society of Ethiopia by creating an enabling environment for the rapid development of ICTs: Coordinate the implementation of the national ICT policy by establishing organisational structures for ICT within federal and regional governments; improve the delivery of ICT services, such as education and training, hardware and software development, applications, and so on by consolidating institutional capacity in government, educational institutions and in the private sector; ensure the quality of ICT education and training by establish an accreditation council which provides technical backing.

Support the key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, industry and the services sectors, through the promotion and utilisation of ICTs: Promote the development of a competitive ICT sector; institute electronic information systems and applications emphasising priority sectors, such as agriculture, health, education, etc.

Transform Ethiopia into a knowledge- and information-based society and economy: Encourage and support the participation of civil societies and communities, especially women and the disabled, in the process of ICT development; automate all existing public service delivery systems and establish public information gateways to connect, develop and leverage public information resources.

Utilise ICTs to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of civil and public service delivery and to promote good governance and proficient usage of scarce resources: Implement the appropriate guidelines, procedures and organisational structures to ensure the integration of ICT in strategic public sector development programmes; enable citizens and private companies to communicate with public authorities through establishing service network systems; ensure that government institutional information systems are developed, coordinated and efficiently utilised by designing and implementing the appropriate mechanisms; put national radio frequency spectrum resources to efficient and productive use.

Develop ICT as a globally competitive industry and as an engine of growth: Maintain collaborative relationships with professional associations in ICT and promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation with organisations involved in the development and promotion of ICT.