“It is heartening to know that we have moved significantly since the past two years. An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy and strategy (Maitlamo) is in the final stages of being developed,” Moses Lekaukau said on Tuesday. He was speaking at a three-day World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) consultative meeting at Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC).
Lekaukau said the telecommunications sector registered a return of over P1 billion.
He said progress is being made both in local and regional ICT planning. “We see at the local level growing interest in ICT related ventures and training. These are a few of the successes that we have to capitalise on,” he said. BTA was instrumental during the just ended World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR 2005) held in Gaborone.
The workshop is a preparation for the second phase WSIS summit that will be held in a few weeks time in Tunis, Tunisia. In Tunis participants will take stock of the progress made since the 2003 Geneva summit. The theme of the workshop, “Time for Solutions”, was adopted in Geneva during the first phase of the summit to encourage more action as opposed to continued talking. “We must be clear in our minds that the world is not waiting for us while we talk, we have the plans and we know how to implement them,” Lekaukau told participants.
BTA is an independent regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry. Established in 1996, BTA is vested with the authority to regulate and supervise all aspects of telecommunications common carrier and service providers falling under its jurisdiction. A draft broadcasting policy is awaiting finalisation by government. Lekaukau said the board of BTA deliberated on the further liberalisation report.
WSIS was born out of the commitment that information plays a significant role to human life and is essential for every society.
During the 2003 Geneva summit, BTA was tasked with the responsibility of coordinating a national consultative process on the WSIS. “We consulted with key ICT stakeholders in Botswana during the national stakeholders conference.”
The 2003 Geneva summit adopted a Declaration of Principle aimed at achieving a common vision to build a people-centred, inclusive and development oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and people to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development. The summit also agreed that each person should have the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge in order to understand, participate actively and benefit from the information society and the knowledge economy.
The declarations are translated into a plan of action in which “concrete action” lines would advance the achievement of the internationally achieved development goals, including those in the Millennium Development Goals. Objectives of the plan of action are to build an inclusive information society and promote the use of information and knowledge for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.
For his part, chief communications officer in the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (MCST), Itumeleng Batsalelwang, said government’s role is to provide a conducive environment in the information sector, through the provision of legislature.He explained governments’ role on the development of e-strategies. “There is no need to put ICT infrastructure all over the place when we don’t have human capacity to build them,” said Batsalelwang suggesting that authorities should concentrate on capacity building. Batsalelwang said government was doing more to be an international communication hub. He highlighted the ongoing multi-lateral communication agreements, amongst them Botswana’s connection with the East African submarine cable system. This will benefit Botswana, as it will provide the much needed broad-based network system. The West Africa fibre system will also connect Botswana with the rest of Europe, the Middle East, West Africa and the US. Batsalelwang is optimistic that the connections will help reduce the soaring tariffs. “With SADC cooperation, we will be able to connect much quicker,” Batsalelwang explained.
