Zim yet to harness ICT opportunities

Zim yet to harness ICT opportunities
Published: 25 April 2014
Zimbabwe is still some way off to be fully capacitated to harness the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs).

A study by the World Economic Forum released yesterday ranks Zimbabwe at 117 out of 148 countries.

The World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report (GITR) and its Network Readiness Index for 2014 shows that Zimbabwe has limited capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by ICT for enhanced competitiveness and well-being.

This is despite the fact that the country's tele-density has risen to over 100 percent from below 30 percent in 2009.

But tele-density only represents the number of active mobile phone SIM cards and landlines as a percentage of the country's total population.

Although there should be a corresponding growth in internet penetration when tele-density rises, the huge disparity between ICT penetration as measured by tele-density, and ICT penetration as measured by internet use is probably indicative of the extent to which Zimbabwe has adopted the more significant new technologies, as well as its integration in the global information society, putting paid to the notion that Zimbabwe is e-ready, especially as regards e-business.

Zimbabwe has so far adopted limited critical ICT infrastructure, for instance, in terms of broadband penetration, capacity expansion and improving speed of connectivity.

Additionally, the country is still a long way to achieve broad-based ICT utilisation, let alone the establishment of its proposed e-governance platform.

In comparison to other countries in the region Zimbabwe came in 16th behind countries such as Mauritius (48th globally), South Africa (70th), Tunisia (87th), Egypt (91st), Kenya (92nd), Ghana (96th), Botswana (103rd), Zambia (110th) and Nigeria (113th).

Zimbabwe still awaits the promulgation of a new ICT Policy, which is expected to play a critical role in determining the framework for ICT infrastructure expansion, an area which the country has been lagging behind.

The significant role of ICTs in driving economic growth cannot be under estimated. WEF notes that in several economies, the ICT industry has become increasingly important and now accounts for a significant share of value-added and employment.

In addition, ICTs interact closely with many other sectors, thus enabling innovations to accrue and affecting productivity.
- BH24
Tags: ICT,

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