School Connectivity Contribution to Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Telecommunication and Postal Services 12 September 2014 Mr Freeman Nomvalo

2 SITA Mandate Context Act means “SITA Act 38 of 2002”; Regulation means “SITA General Regulations R.902 of 2005”. “ 7.(1) To achieve its objects, the Agency – (a) must, on behalf of a [National or Provincial] department, … (i) provide or maintain a private telecommunication network or a value-added network service in accordance with the Telecommunications Act, 1996…”; To improve service delivery to the public through the provision of information technology, information systems and related services in a maintained information systems security environment to departments and public bodies; and to promote the efficiency of departments and public bodies through the use of information technology (SITA Act, 1998).

3 SITA Role within National ICT Agenda SA Connect Info & Cybersecurity e-Government Enable Public Service Delivery – prioritising implementation of National Policies NDP 2030 Medium Term Strategic framework (14 x Outcomes)

4 SITA Successes Secure Hosting of Government Systems that ensure transactions on time ~ Senior Certificates processed annually 2000 Young South Africans benefiting in SITA’s learnerships, internships and bursaries 15 fully equipped ICT laboratories in Schools in primarily rural and peri-urban areas Techno-Girl girls in job shadowing; 283 studying at Higher Education; 289 employed

5 Broadband coverage vs Public Sector facilities combined fixed and mobile broadband coverage Source: BMI-T, 2012 Health facilities Police stations Schools Legend: Total facilities outside coverage: 6785 schools 793 health facilities 192 police stations

6 Broadband Partnering  Government Next Generation Network (NGN) Partnership with Telkom and BBI established to improve the coverage and broadband capacity of the basic network in place Broadband Infraco benefits o 15% bandwidth capacity increase year-on-year without additional cost o 42% reduction in cost (after migration from Neotel to BBI) Telkom o 849 lines (between 1 and 2 Mbps) upgraded to 2 Mbps at no cost o 24.6% overall cost saving to the current situatio n  Western Cape Broadband initiative Partnership with Neotel established Connecting 2025 public service outlets (including 1187 Schools and 298 Health facilities) Minimum bandwidth 10Mbps  Network Security SITA focusses on providing Security layer to the Government NGN to ensure Government data assets remains private for Government use only and that it is protected from Cyber Attacks.

7 Enabling DBE Strategic objectives  Improve the quality of teaching and learning  Undertake regular assessments to track progress  Improve early childhood development  Outcomes-focussed planning & accountability system  Improve the capacity of DBE  Support the laptop initiative

8 Challenges  SITA’s services uptake remains a challenge  SITA’s Act primarily focusses on departments  Poor Last mile penetration into rural communities  High cost of bandwidth  Low bandwidth (below SA Connect Targets) in most areas

9 Conclusion Whilst SITA has faced challenges historically, if given an opportunity I believe SITA can increase its contribution in furthering the country’s objectives of providing equal education to all