Zimbabwe ICT4D National Policy

Date

2005

City

Harare

Country

Zimbabwe

Region

Africa

Partners

Government of Zimbabwe
National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Zimbabwe
National University of Science and Technology (NUST)

Policy Status

Policy adopted

Sectors

Government, Education, Economy, Agriculture, Tourism, Health, Mining and Manufacturing, Civil Society

Subsectors

Government - policy and legal framework, accessibility, public participation, accountability and transparency

Education - capacity building, e-learning, schools and technical education

Economy - e-commerce, appropriate business climate, public private partnerships

Agriculture - resource management

Tourism - booking, scheduling and payment systems

Health - information sharing, digital services

Mining and Manufacturing - prospecting and data management, land-use planning, quality control and marketing

Civil Society - gender equality, youth access, universal access

Lead Organisation

The Ministry for Science and Technology Development

Overview

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.

The Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) recognises the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in development. Consequently, the GOZ has committed to developing and improving new and existing physical infrastructure for all sectors of the economy by implementing and integrating an equitable framework for expedited ICT development. The GOZ intends to increase bandwidth for enhanced speed and efficiency, while expanding access to rural communities. In addition, the GOZ wants to promote domestic production of ICT to meet international standards and local needs.

To meet these goals, the GOZ intends to: reduce tax and tariffs on ICT to increase affordability; establish education and institutional planning, policy-making and direction that will take into consideration the convergence of digital services, including broadcasting, telecommunications and on-line computer services; and create a conducive environment for public and private partnerships that will promote awareness of ICT and local development of software and hardware relevant to all sectors of Zimbabwe.

Contact

Project Coordinator

National Information and Communication Technology Project

P.O. Box CY2607

Causeway

Zimbabwe

ict@zarnet.ac.zw

mmarongwe@zarnet.ac.zw

Strategies

E-government and E-governance

The GOZ intends to develop an e-government capacity via a policy framework and an e-Government Agency, which ensures government controlled and universally accessible electronic services for the public. This goal will achieve greater accountability and transparency to facilitate governmental services during elections and to maintain law and order.

Education and Training

The GOZ recognises the importance of education in social, economic and political development. To achieve the obvious goals of greater access, the government intends to: provide equitable access in education and professional training to disadvantaged sectors of society; build individual ICT capacity with affordable ICT equipment that reflects the needs of stakeholders; build and promote training opportunities in schools, colleges and universities that increase capacity for domestic research and development.

E-Commerce

It is recognised that there is a need to facilitate and grow e-commerce. As such, the GOZ wishes to create and engender a conducive and appropriate environment for e-commerce domestically and internationally, that promotes security and public private partnerships.

Agriculture

As agriculture is the stated backbone of the economy, transformation to accommodate modernisation will utilise ICT to protect food security and land management. The GOZ intends to use ICT to appropriately manage land, manage production and processing, and to promote information sharing for forecasting and sustainable agricultural development.

Tourism

In conjunction with e-commerce, the tourism industry will benefit from electronic reservations, information and payment systems. The GOZ wants to promote and engender an appropriate environment for e-tourism and sustainable environmental management.

Health

Monitoring, data gathering and processing information within the health sector will be achieved by promoting the development and use of ICT to efficiently deliver health services. Additionally, the health services will be integrated with an interactive national and international ICT information sharing system.

Mining and Manufacturing

ICT use for both small and large mining industries can aid in prospecting and modelling deposits. It also can improve the quality controls, marketing, production data and management and trade.

Gender, Youth, Disabled and the Aged/Elderly

Gender: the GOZ recognise the differential impact along gender issues and is committed to mainstreaming access and use of ICT.

Youth: youth are recognised as the highest potential users of ICT, and thus the bulk of opportunities will be directed in developing this sector.

Disabled: the GOZ also recognises the use of ICT for disabled and physically challenged in including and meeting their needs.

Human Resource Development

The GOZ intends to maximise HR’s potential by developing globally competitive educational and technical training sectors.

Source

Title: Zimbabwe National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Framework
Year: 2005
Publication: National Information and Communication Technology Project
Click here to download the report as a PDF document.

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