By Tendai Chisiri
The government has come up with the Smart Zimbabwe Master Plan, which is set to give direction to the country’s various smart initiatives such as the Smart City initiative where they intend to have security camera’s installed around the capital city for improved security and more efficient traffic control.
Speaking at the Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). 2023 Annual Strategic Planning Workshop Workshop held in Mutare ICT, Postal and Courier services minister Tatenda Mavetere said upon realising the socio-economic importance of Broadband and its transformative benefits to national development and overall quality of life, Government came up with the National Broadband Plan.
” The National Broadband Plan is a nationwide initiative to provide access to and adoption of Broadband services at Government, business, household and individual levels, with the aim of transforming Zimbabwe’s growth trajectory from being largely driven by resource-based exploits to innovation driven growth. The aspired vision is ‘An All-Inclusive Digital Society Powered by Premier Innovations by 2030’. It is envisaged that the National Broadband Plan will enhance the country’s global competitiveness; increase job creation and productivity; improve education; agriculture, health and governance in general, all of which are prerequisites for achieving the sustainable development goals”, she said.
“In the same vein, government has come up with the Smart Zimbabwe Master Plan, which is set to give direction to the country’s various smart initiatives such as the Smart City initiative where we intend to have security camera’s installed around the capital city for improved security and more efficient traffic control. We also have various e-projects such as e-Agriculture, e-Health and e-Learning”, ICT minister Mavetere added.
In addition to this, Government has developed a National ICT Policy to replace the ICT Policy of 2016, which has now been overtaken by the rapid technological changes and new technological demands over the past few years. The ICT Policy above all things, seeks to ensure meaningful connectivity for all, which entails a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost. Meaningful connectivity is measured and determined by good Internet speeds, adequate bandwidth and availability of reliable Internet enabled devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.
She commended POTRAZ as being on the right trajectory and in sync with Government towards the successful implementation of the three (3) policy instruments the National Broadband Plan, the Smart Zimbabwe Master Plan and the National ICT Policy.
POTRAZ director general Dr Gift Machengete speaking at the event said there is need for constant evaluation and analysis of the effectiveness of the strategies to meet the goals.
“Italian Author and Diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli says and I quote: constant success demands constant change with the times. As expounded by Machiavelli, there is need to move with the changing times. There is need for constant evaluation and analysis of the effectiveness of our strategies to meet our goal. There is need for constant self-introspection. There is need for constant examination of the environment, and it is for this purpose that we are all gathered here today – to strategize”, he said.
“At a strategic planning workshop such as this one, we are therefore expected to plan for the unknown, for the unseen, for the unheard of. We have to plan for any eventuality as the sector we regulate is so dynamic – focusing on the present will not suffice”, he added.
He chronologied programmes done by his institution in the year 2023 in an effort to have ICT around the country. Among them are that they relocated nine collocated towers bringing to eleven, the number of towers relocated to date and to enhance Internet access and use in rural areas, POTRAZ continued with its flagship Community Information Centre (CIC) program which was enhanced during the year with they constructed an additional 32 CIC which are now at various stages of completion. Completion of all 32 CICs will bring to 202, the total number of CICs in the country. This is a huge achievement towards their national quest for universal access and use of ICTs.
“In 2024 the Authority will start village based mobile training sessions in basic computer appreciation with a view to improving CIC patronage as people would appreciate the importance and usefulness of the centres more once they have basic knowledge of computers and the Internet. Although the number of people visiting CICs continues to increase steadily, the Authority is of the opinion that the CICs are under-utilised stemming from a lack of appreciation of the benefits of the sites to individuals and communities as well as a general lack of computer skills among rural folk”, he revealed.
2023 was an extra-ordinary year on the e-learning front after POTRAZ rolled out a massive Computer Lab per School Program. The program, which is ongoing has so far seen a staggering 7860 computers being distributed to a whooping 315 schools and universities. Such life changing interventions are affording pupils in rural areas equal opportunities as those in towns and cities in terms of ICTs.
However, while the Authority has done so much, the number of schools that still require assistance with computers is huge. We shall, therefore continue on this trajectory and aim to surpass this year’s impressive figures until we ultimately reach our target of equipping all under privileged schools with computer labs.
In the interest of ICT inclusivity and in tandem with the NDS1 and SDGs theme of “Leaving No one and No Place Behind”, the Authority has in prior years provided assistive software and hardware to various institutions housing people with disabilities. This year, the Authority moved a notch higher by offering training in Basic ICT Skills to persons with disabilities, with the latest training being that of 31 visually impaired persons in Masvingo province. Another batch of 30 persons with disability was also trained in Bindura earlier in the year. This is a countrywide program, which is being rolled out to close the digital skills divide between the disabled and able bodied of society and as such all areas of the country will be covered.
Similarly, during the year, the Authority acquired the Online Data Collection System, which will enhance accuracy and efficiency in the compilation of quarterly sector performance reports. In the past when the Authority was computing returns from operators manually, compilation of the sector report would take around 60 days to complete, whereas with the new system, a lead time of only 14 days is required to produce reports from time of submission of returns by operators. This will go a long way in enhancing regulatory efficiency.
Such progressive regulatory tools will add to an array of other tools acquired in prior years such as the Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring System (TTMS) and the Telecommunications Quality of Service Monitoring System to bring about the much-desired regulatory efficiency in such a fast paced technological environment, which demands such agility and foresight.
To enhance operational efficiency and promote evidence-based regulatory interventions, in 2023 POTRAZ constituted a Research and Development Unit in the Director General’s Office, which is responsible for conducting sector specific research. In a short space of time the unit completed research on data protection trends by both data controllers and data subjects. This is in a bid to appreciate the status quo so as to come up with appropriate interventions. The unit is currently conducting research on the countries Child Online Protection Trends with a view to strengthening systems in this area. Furthermore, the unit is working on the development and publication of an ICT Journal.
On another note, following the designation of POTRAZ as the Data Protection Authority of Zimbabwe, I am excited that this year POTRAZ recruited personnel and fully constituted a Data Protection Unit within the Authority. POTRAZ has since scored milestones in terms of data protection advocacy after rolling out a number of physical and virtual Data Protection Sensitisation Workshops. Plans to train Data Protection Officers (DPOs) through the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) are at an advanced stage.
“The year was however, not without its fair share of challenges. One of the major challenges faced during the year is that of currency instability as at one time the exchange rate skyrocketed within a short period of time following rapid weakening of the local currency. True to the ascertain that nothing is certain, the exchange rate dramatically dropped at one time following the strengthening of the local currency, which was a totally new phenomena in the Zimbabwean market”, he revealed.
” Another challenge we faced is on the procurement front where some unscrupulous suppliers sought to take advantage of the exchange rate fluctuations to make a killing off POTRAZ by deliberately not supplying the goods or services paid for, preferring to refund the Authority the paid amount as it would have been eroded by inflation. This is pure criminal and as an Authority we shall not tolerate such dubious practices”, Dr Machengete added.
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