Building an Ethiopian Information Society
ICT
Focus Magazine has been playing a key advocacy role for appropriate
policies and strategies for the adoption of information and communication
technologies in the whole economy, build effective partnerships
and promote the development of ICTs among the wider segment of
the Ethiopian population. It has stressed the need to create the
Ethiopian Information Society, enhance human development to build
a competitive economy. The importance of the provision of appropriate
advisory and consultancy services for the Civil Service and Public
Sector institutions for the supply and installation of ICT services
and products and on how to make information and communication
technologies more accessible to the broader section of the workforce;
its application in education, health and e-commerce and to solve
some problems of rural communities have also been properly highlighted.
The
past issues had also covered proceedings of workshops and conferences
and had brought its observations of evidence of cross-fertilization
of ideas among stakeholders, including national institutions,
professional bodies, private sector and international organizations
to the Ethiopian policy formulators and decision makers.
ICT
professionals and educators had also shared their views and opinions
about past achievements, problems encountered and future potential
for the growth of the sector.
This
article would deal with essential aspects that are ideal for “Building
an Ethiopian Information Society”
The
Vision
The vision of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)
envisages that each African nation should build, by the year 2010,
an Information Society in which every man, woman, child, village,
public and private sector office has secure access to information
and knowledge through the use of computers and the communication
media. In this connection, the various documents produced for
the implementation of the African Information Society Initiative
could serve as a basis for the formulation of the Ethiopian Information
Society to provide every Ethiopian with the possibility of using
the communication and data processing services depending on the
specific needs and realities of the environment in which we live.
Amid
continued talks of the growing digital divide between Ethiopia
and the developed countries on the one hand and the extreme lag
behind most African nations on the other, an increasing number
of institutions are making innovative use of the new information
and communications technology. Ethiopian ICT companies and professionals
are grappling with the technology to update themselves with the
latest developments and cope up with counterparts at the other
end of the world.
Commitment
A number of workshops, seminars and conferences were conducted
in the past by the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission
(ESTC) in coordination with the Ethiopian Information Technology
Professionals Association (EITPA) and local and international
stakeholders to popularize ICT and implement an ICT Policy to
lay a firm foundation for its sustainability in the Ethiopian
condition.
However,
obstacles remain including political and public awareness, limited
infrastructure, small markets, low levels of education and skills
as well as a variety of policy barriers. The draft policy, which
has been a topic of discussion for concerned stakeholders at various
forums, is still pending the approval of the Council of Ministers.
The
draft policy might consider a number of areas when formulating
the national strategies: Trade, Health, Education and Research,
Food Security, Culture, Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution,
Job Creation, Gender and Development.
There
are, in addition, focus areas such as the following that should
be dealt with for the success of the implementation of ICT for
Ethiopia.
·
Awareness for politicians, policy formulators and decision
makers to create the right conditions for a sustainable ICT development,
· The promotion of activities to impress people what Ethiopia
stand to gain from the Information Society,
· The formulation of national plans and strategies which
integrate all sectors,
· The extension
of electronic access and connectivity to satisfactory levels of
access and service quality in accordance with the principles of
universal access and universal service,
· The identification
of sectoral applications which will set the guidelines for national
policy,
· The demonstration of access to include people from all
walks of life, and
· The promotion
of informational content development to address user needs and
realities.
Policy
and Regulatory Framework
At this stage of the development of ICT, it is apt to ask: Is
Ethiopia building the capacities it needs to integrate itself
in the global information economy? It is our firm belief that
Ethiopia should offer its citizens more or less access to ICT
including not only the World Wide Web – WWW – but
also many of its current and planned projects should demonstrate
that it is making preparations to build the Information Society
– training and workshops that encompass information science
specialists, professionals from other disciplines and growing
awareness of national policy makers.
The
ICT Policy should serve as an instrument to avert the threat of
the digital divide in access between urban and rural areas and
between high income and low-income members of the Ethiopian Society.
An uneven distribution and growth of communications and usage
can have long-term effects on the social and economic conditions
of the society.
The
Policy should, therefore, create the right condition for easy
access to Internet in rural areas to stimulate learning and local
job creation.
Reforming
the Telecommunication Sector
One of the main debating issues raised in various workshops and
conferences conducted in the past have been the distribution and
provision of quality phone services at affordable rate across
the nation. This question will, of course, increasingly encompass
how to offer useful Internet services in order to support development
of the local economy.
Read
the full article in ICT Focus Magazine
