1 “NEPAD and the Role of the Internet” By Dr Andile Ngcaba, DG, Department of Communications 12 September 2002 Department: Communications

2 Introduction - NEPAD The 37th summit of the organisation of African unity adopted a new African initiative - the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD. NEPAD has been recognised both in and outside Africa as the top development programme for Africa. In NEPAD, information and communication technologies, ICT’s, have been recognised not only as important but as one of the four top priority programmes of NEPAD alongside:-. Communicable diseases. Market access of African goods and. Debt reduction.

Department: Communications 3 The e-Africa Commission NEPAD established Special Task Forces for the development and implementation of the four priority programmes. For the ICT programme a Special Task Force has been established known as the e-Africa Commission The establishment of the Commission is a follow-up to the recommendation of the Ministerial Oversight Committee,MOC, to the OAU. The Commission, has a total membership of 43 persons.

Department: Communications 4 Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 Rationale: provide enabling legislative framework for promotion of electronic communication and transactions. Provide legal certainty and protection for consumers and vendors in the electronic environment. Address issues related to the administration of the.za domain name space. Development of e-strategy within 24 months. Certification and authentication. Addresses issues related to cyber-crime.

Department: Communications 5 The Internet The Internet is critical component of bridging the digital divide – at the heart of the definition of universal access and service. Access mechanisms are critical as well as addressing issues of cost of access. Innovative means are required to improve access via devices such as mobile, fixed and community access points. Pre-paid and community access will be the drivers of the future access technologies and growth of connectivity on the Continent.

Department: Communications 6 Internet in South Africa South Africa remains the leader on the Continent in terms of Internet users and the 167 ISP’s. Latest figures indicate that there are approx. 3.5 million Internet users, compared to a total population of 46 million – very low penetration. Government and Internet community have to make direct intervention to address greater usage and access. The Internet market seems to be maturing in terms of the slowing in the compound annual growth rate amongst new dial-up users – but the numbers of people with no access continues to grow.

Department: Communications 7 Internet in South Africa Seriousness of Government reflected in number of initiatives which include: Public Internet Terminals (PiT’s); Multi-purpose Community Centres; Citizens’ Post Offices; Universal Service Agency; Digital Partnership; Telecentres; DoC Web Internet Laboratories (DoC WIL’s). EduNet; Gauteng online; Khanya (W. Cape).

Department: Communications 8 Internet in South Africa Other initiatives: Schoolnet; Telkom/Thintana. iCommunity. Focus of government is schools Need to expand programmes such as Gauteng online and Khanya (W.Cape) to other provinces..za domain name authority has important role in facilitating access to domain names and further expansion of Internet usage.

Department: Communications 9 Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development Meeting held in George, 7 th & 8 th September Priority areas identified: Education, Health and SMME’s. Important role for ICT’s and the Internet to foster development of the country.

Department: Communications 10 Education There are primary schools, high schools & 50 FET colleges with teachers. Of schools, only 5373 schools had a media centre, in most cases these were rooms with little or no resources. Nationally 24.4% of schools had computers and schools had telephones in 2000;

Department: Communications 11 Education What needs to done? s to be provided to all learners; URLs to be provided to all schools; Telephone numbers to be provided to all schools; Use of ICT to deliver curriculum; Planning and management (EMIS). The e-rate for schools is an important step to start addressing access.

Department: Communications 12 Health The National Department of Health has started process of integrating information systems into the National Health Information System (NHIS); What still has to be done? All clinics and hospitals to be provided with access to s for staff; All clinics and hospitals to have a URLs; All clinics and hospitals to have telephone numbers.

Department: Communications 13 SMME’s SMME’s remain and will continue to drive the economy and be main source of jobs in the country; The use of Internet and ICT’s are critical to greater competitiveness and improvement in quality of businesses. What has to be done? URL’s to clearly identify SMME’s; addresses for all SMME’s; Telephone numbers for all SMME’s;

Department: Communications 14 Conclusion The convergence of technologies provides opportunities for e-learning, e-health, e- government, e-commerce, environmental protection and many other applications which are highly beneficial for social, cultural and economic development. Need and Public-Private Partnership to achieve objectives and address challenges posed to the country. Universal access to ICTs is widely viewed as a key to economic prosperity. South Africa and the Continent need to look at turning the “digital divide” into a “DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY”.