ICT for Development: the case for Namibia (Presented at the ICT for Development Seminar, Joensuu Yliopisto, Finland, 1 st April 2005) Presenter: Kauna Ndakunda University of Namibia

Overview of the presentation Context and Background Namibia’s ICT Situation Current ICT initiatives ICT opportunities Challenges

Context and Background Namibia became independent in 1990 Large country of 824,000 km 2 Today the country is sparsely populated with over 1.8 m Growth of 2.6% and 40% under 15 years of age Capital is Windhoek, population growing rapidly 46% of population is in north-central region Rich and diverse culture (25 languages or major dialects)

Namibia’s ICT Situation Radio and TV services nationwide Fixed Line Telephony – Monopoly operator, Telecom Namibia Mobile Telephony (80% of population) – Monopoly operator, MTC

Current ICT initiatives Vision 2030 – “ By 2030 people in Namibia should enjoy prosperity, peace, good health, education and political stability” NDPII – Identifies projects that focus on poverty reductions National ICT policy Public Service Information Policy – Improve quality of service delivery – Improve communication with and influence in government ICT policy for education

ICT Policy for Education ICT in the curriculum exists as follows: – Basic Information Science: Grades 4-7 – Computer practice: Grades 8-10 – Computer Studies: Grades – Integrated Media & Technology Education: For Pre- service Teachers in Colleges of Education. – Educational Technology: for For Pre-service Teachers at UNAM

University of Namibia UNAM was established in 1992 Initial priorities – setting up of the infrastructure; – design and establishment of the faculty; – expansion of undergraduate programmes – setup administrative structures and policies

About UNAM Faculties: Agriculture and Natural Science Economics and Management Science Education Humanities and Social Scinces Law Science Medical and Health Science Center of External Studies (4 campuses and 9 centers)

UNAM ICT related Programmes Computer Science – programming, databases, networking Information Studies – library science and IT Journalism – news reporting, publishing and graphics design

Other Instutions Polytechnic of Namibia seven vocational training centers four colleges of education three agricultural colleges one police training college

UNAM ICT Policy  Enhancing Flexible and Effective Teaching and Learning  Adding Impetus to the Research Function  Increasing Efficiency in Management and Administration  Providing Easy and Wider Access to Information Resources  Managed Learning Environment

Learning Management Environment Adopted Kewl Currently in use To be developed as a regional eLearning Center

ICT Opportunities Localization of content to communities Accelerate other online service delivery – e.g. tax returns, immigration documents Strengthen and accelerate growth of local ICT professionals Collection of ICT-related statistics

ICT opportunities Hotels and Restaurants (Tourism) – No official statistics are maintained General Services – Difficult to locate service providers Voter’s Registration and updates

Challenges Inconvenient access points High costs of technology with low benefits Sustainability of Centers Misuse of properties

Challenges (Cont’d) ICT public education at all levels Legal environment for ICT (e-commerce, VoIP, electronic contracts) Barriers to competition (monopolies, import restrictions, tax biases)

Conclusions “To develop UNAM to a responsive and Centre of Excellence institution served by professional, motivated and quality staff, who are supported with appropriate facilities, in order to provide capacity building, quality service in an efficient and cost-effective manner in local and regional contexts.”

Kiitos!