Agriculture - food security, export, foreign trade, capacity building, information delivery, local and international markets, market information, natural resource management, networking, research, and gender empowerment.

Civil Society - gender empowerment and media.

Economy - infrastructure, industrial development, foreign investment, e-business, private sector development, e-banking, e-commerce, information and communication technology (ICT) training, tourism industry, ICT industry, public private partnership, legislation, and gender empowerment.

Education - illiteracy, universal primary education, accessibility, gender equity, capacity building, vocational training, curriculum, management, ICT literacy, ICT resources, distance and open learning, standards, research facilities, network infrastructure, professional development, staff motivation and retention, and policy.

Government - local government, decentralisation, rural empowerment, information management, empowerment of rural women, e-services, ICT infrastructure, private sector partnership, e-government, telecentres, tax and fiscal incentives, and privacy and security legislation.

Health - infrastructure, service delivery and quality, information security and privacy, accessibility, content development, research, private sector partnership, and staff motivation and retention.

Law - legislation, regulation, and competition.

Infrastructure - human resource development, public private partnership, bandwidth, private investment, regulation, and foreign direct investment.

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.

This NICI Policy and Plan for The Gambia is a programme of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) that was launched in 1996 by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). AISI serves as a guiding framework for building the ICT infrastructure in Africa.

Between July and October of 2003, The National e-Government Technical Committee (NATCOM) conducted, with assistance from ECA, an ICT assessment for The Gambia. The ICT situation was assessed through various factors that included the availability and use of computer equipment, connectivity/internet, telephony, ICT human resources, and the readiness of the country in terms of harnessing ICT for development. The results from this survey have been instrumental in charting the direction of the present NICI process.

The NICI policy and plan development process in The Gambia was launched in April of 2004 and was designed to address the areas where ICT would facilitate the achievement of the Vision 2020 overall objective, which is to transform The Gambia into a middle-income country by 2020 through accelerating private sector development, restructuring economic management, developing the human capital base, and institutionalising decentralised and democratic participatory government structures, processes and systems.

The NICI policy and plan development process was also designed to address the four strategic issues identified in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) called the Second Strategy for Poverty Alleviation (SPA-II). These issues are enhancing the productive capacity of the economically poor, enhancing access to and the performance of social services, local level capacity building, and promoting participatory communication processes.

The first phase of the NICI policy development process sought to identify and encourage various stakeholders from all sectors of society to voice their opinions in order to establish a comprehensive policy. Consultative meeting were held with information technology (IT) business houses, academia, regulatory bodies, civil society organisations, youth organisations, media, urban and rural municipal councils and local area councils, financial institutions, Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Departments of State, Permanent Secretaries of State, and the National Assembly. The second phase of the NICI policy development process began in November of 2004 with a major stakeholder workshop intended to develop an action plan for the next ten years.

The overall objective for the policy is to ‘leapfrog’ several stages of development by establishing a participatory approach in building human resources and a conducive environment that utilises ICT as a platform to exchange data, information, and knowledge, and as a tool to implement applications and provide services in order to achieve higher growth rates in all spheres of socio-economic activities.

Below are specific strategies to achieve the ICT policy objective for the agriculture, education, and health sectors:

Agriculture

The specific objectives of the agriculture sector strategy include disseminating strategic information to farmers, government authorities and other actors; developing a link between agriculture and trade at the national level through the use of ICT; improving the quality of traditional and non-traditional products for export through exposure to international markets via ICT; enhancing economic development in the agriculture sector by provide farmers with an opportunity to market their products globally via the internet and get online access to market-oriented information; utilising ICT for research and effective management of natural resources; facilitating collaboration through the use of ICT; facilitating regional and international networking and sharing of information on strategies and best practices in the agriculture sector between government, industry and academia; and, utilising ICT to support agricultural research, training and production as well as improving local knowledge.

In order to achieve these policy objectives, the government will create an integrated agriculture information system to facilitate the efficient processing, management, and dissemination of data and information to meet the information needs of the farmers across the country; invest in nationwide agricultural communication centres to create access to ICT by farmers and establish online agriculture portals to facilitate information sharing; establish a central agricultural information “e-market” that will be comprised of product information received from local farmers’ markets and food processors and that will also facilitate the entry of The Gambia’s agricultural products on global markets; provide agriculture and natural resource management for areas such as food chain, agricultural markets, early warning, geographic information systems, and preservation of natural resources; develop locally relevant training programmes to educate farmers on the use of ICT in agriculture and develop a mechanism to provide farmers with relevant ICT development updates; and, establish an input supply information system.

Education

The specific objectives of the education sector strategy include utilising ICT for more effective and efficient monitoring and management of the education system; promoting ICT literacy and creating an ICT culture; planning of ICT human resource development to sustain the ICT led initiatives in the country; providing the necessary ICT resources (hardware, software and applications) to ensure efficient and effective administration of the sector; facilitating strategic national and international partnerships with the goal of increasing private sector participation and development; extending cost effective ICT facilities to rural areas to provide internet access to all schools, as well as adult education and computer literacy classes; utilising ICT to provide distance and open learning and equitable access to limited resources, especially in remote areas; introducing compulsory ICT training for all professional education staff and students by 2011; maintaining consistent national standards in ICT education curriculum; and, creating comprehensive research facilities by linking them locally and internationally with schools, libraries, and resource centres.

In order to achieve the policy objectives outlined above, the government will ensure that ICT is utilised for the improvement of teaching and learning techniques, as well as for improving the general effectiveness of management in schools and other formal and non-formal education institutions and settings. The government will also ensure that a comprehensive ICT policy and Master Plan for Education will be put in place and will address, among other things, how to provide personnel and funding for introducing and sustaining ICTs at all levels of the education system; how to provide hardware in a cost effective manner; targeted student-computer rations; the configuration and placement of ICT facilities and technical support for students and teachers; the accumulation and integration of software with teaching and learning techniques; the enablement of teachers through the provision of appropriate ICT training and access to computer facilities, as well as professional support; how to appropriately integrate ICT into the school curriculum; how to provide the necessary infrastructure to network teachers and students; the appointment of additional staff to support ICT facilities; how to utilise open and distance learning to enhance ICT in education nationwide; how to encourage research and development in ICT activities in education; how to apply ICT in the general management and administration of the education sector linking it to other government departments; how to deliver and communicate relevant information in a timely manner; the procedures for copyright of educational materials; the development of partnerships with parents and civil society through the use of ICT; and establishing mechanisms for staff motivation and retention in ICT education.

Health

The specific objectives of the health sector strategy are to provide the Department of State for Health and Social Welfare (DoSH&SW) with Wireless Area Networks (WAN); substantially reduce malnutrition among children; provide health information to all stakeholders via ICT; provide ICT training for all DoSH&SW health personnel staff; create a documentation centre in each division; provide internet access to all health centres; provide health care through telemedicine; computerise record management (birth & death); provide distance learning to health professionals through the use of ICT; provide centralised management for the provision of health information; provide effective management of ICT resources; provide consistent ICT standards and enforcement; provide an effective power supply for health facilities, District Health Teams (DHTs) & Central offices; provide effective maintenance of ICT equipment & support; provide an effective monitoring, evaluation, and auditing system for ICT; provide effective security and privacy of medical records; and apply ICT for capacity development and empowerment of young men and women.

In order to achieve these policy objectives, the government will network health care centres and hospitals in rural areas via ICT with the nearest equivalent institution in urban areas to promote cooperation and collaboration between institutions; support the use of audio and video transmission systems to broaden the geographic reach of scarce resources; enhance the quality of information specific to different fields of medicine and clinical treatment in the health sector through content development, databases, and meta search engines in order to reduce inconsistencies in data sharing and medical terminologies; provide a web-based portal for dissemination of existing clinical and medical information and epidemiological information on the prevention of diseases such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria; facilitate research through the use of ICTs to explore ways of disseminating genetic information within existing clinical systems to help diagnosis, treatment and development of cost-effective drugs; promote closer health sector collaboration with private entrepreneurs and regional initiatives; establish a mechanism for staff motivation and retention of health staff within DOSH&SW; and, provide an adequate budget to sustain ICT initiatives in health.

Title: The Gambia National Information & Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Policy and Plans for The Gambia
Year: 2004
Publication: Department of State for Communication, Information and Technology (DOSCIT)
Click here to view the report online.

Relevant Links:
Gambia government Department of State for Communications, Information and Technology (DOSCIT) website
Vision 2020 (2006)
The Gambia: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)
Republic of The Gambia website
APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor