Education - modernisation, training and ICT literacy.

Agriculture - improved efficiency and productivity for local and export consumption.

Legal - institutional and regulatory frameworks, guidelines and good practices.

Research - scientific and industrial research capacity and research and development (R&D).

Information and Communication - information and communications capabilities and infrastructure.

Services - modernisation of the civil and public service, operations and delivery.

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 policy acknowledges that a new global economic order is taking place which is being dominated by information and knowledge-based economies. Although Malawi has one of the least developed economies in the world, the report stresses that the country must face the new challenges posed by globalisation and the information age. Without deployment, exploitation and development of information and communication technology (ICT) opportunities, it is unlikely that Vision 2020, which is aimed at promoting the social and economic development of Malawi, will be attained. The report acknowledges that in the present competitive environment, it is not possible for a country to remain competitive without using ICT to support its development processes.

The policy outlines key developmental challenges that must be addressed in the near future. These include Malawi’s high population density and growth rate, widespread poverty, high illiteracy rates, an under-performing agricultural sector and a weak industrial sector. Other challenges relate to the high debt burden, over-dependency on donor aid, lack of investment incentives and the country’s poor telecommunication, power and transport infrastructure.

The Malawian ICT-led socio-economic development policy statement sets out the country’s development agenda in the digital age. It is set within other crucial policy frameworks such as Vision 2020, the Malawian Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), and the Science and Technology (S&T) Policy. The policy is also consistent with the objectives of the Communication Sector Policy Statement and the provisions of the South Africa Development Community (SADC) Declaration in Information and Communication Technologies.

The policy has a wide scope and is intended to have an operational life of 20 years; it recognises, however, that periodic updates will be necessary to reflect technological changes and changes in development objectives and priorities.

The overall goal of the policy is to construct a strategy that will address the chief development challenges facing the country. The key challenges identified include the acceleration of the nation’s socio-economic development process to improve the well-being of its citizens, the implementation of a rolling action plan to meet the priorities of Vision 2020, and the engineering of an ICT-led transformation of Malawi into a middle income, information rich, knowledge-based and technology driven economy and society. The policy framework addresses the chief development challenges that face the country, which include the following:

• To develop a fast-growing, competitive, innovative knowledge-based economy and society.
• To improve Malawi's educational system and strengthen science and technology.
• To modernise key sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry and services.
• To promote human resource development and skilled labour.
• To establish the nation’s research and development capacity.

It is hoped that this strategy will transform the economy and create an environment where the majority of the working population will be involved in information and communication-related activities, with a reasonably large proportion of the population having access to ICTs.