Views from the recent IT & communication summit 2010

TANZANIANS have been urged to change their mindset into building the information technology for all. One way is recommended is the creation of blogs which according to panelists in a recent IT and Communication Summit 2010 would enable many Tanzanians get information which they thought would never reach the targeted people.
There are some people who make this world to grow into different segments, there are some people who becomes innovative in their work. People do not take their own responsibilities to build up their life, they mostly depend on excuses which in one way or another is not helpful for their part. As the saying goes, look at the areas of other vibrant companies from ICT sector, we have to integrate the agricultural sector of the knowledgeable economy. Taxation policy in all ICT business in Tanzania, there is no vibrant culture in Tanzania into building a nation like Tanzania. The generation in which we are living is not all knowledgeable. We can’t have a vibrant business if we don’t have a culture in mind of doing such business for ourselves.

A cross section of participants who attended the recent Global IT communication summit in Dar es Salaam.

Africa was left behind in the industrial age and this is the reason the continent is so poor. Not about 1 percent of the country’s population has ever read the National ICT policy through, though the policy has been published in the internet. The issue here is to find ways and means on how to develop the Tanzanian IT age for its people. Tanzania must emulate Rwanda a small country that covers 5 percent of the total land in Tanzania. The country has been described to be a Singapore of Africa because they have embraced ICT for their development. ICT is power if the nation would not change their mindset, they would always be lagging behind. According to one ICT consultant, 80 percent of the Tanzanians leaves in rural areas and still out of these 2 percent of them are able to get the electricity power supply. Therefore, it is impossible to build the information society due to poor electricity supply and IT knowledge is still low. There is a need to increase infrastructure in order to catch with the emerging technologies for development, despite on the seriousness of the issue.Very few companies are willing to volunteer for corporate social responsibilities to their people in rural areas. Hence the development of ICT in most secondary schools in the country is very scarce and sometimes not applied in public areas. A call is made to ICT companies to devote themselves in order to help bridge a digital divide which still exists among the people. The use of TVs in rural areas is so expensive that only few people can afford them.

People looking at various ICT products brought for exhibition by various ICT companies.

On the part of the media, it has been so reluctant or rude for that matter to report on ICT issues for the country’s development. According to the writer of this news whose contribution was heard during the discussion sessions, he threw the challenge to fellow media stakeholders and practitioners to take a keen interest in ICT reporting in the country. According to him, he said hardly a week can pass without seeing an ICT article in newspapers. There are a lot to be highlighted in terms of ICT development in Tanzania. Trainings are the most possible ways to accomplish the need of IT development. Empowerment to rural farmers and capacity building is necessary and very vital to the development of the rural people in Tanzania. The summit was an eye opener to every participants for it brought delegates from various ICT companies and operating consulting ICT firms in the country. According to the Director in the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, Dr. Zaipuna Yona, in his paper entitled “The role of government in providing broadband”, people are still taking ICT as a sector in itself rather than a cross cutting element throughout their lives.

An exhibitor Mr. Mohammed at the car tracking company showing one of the visitors how his company traces the lost vehicles of their clients during the summit.

Such attitudes towards the use of ICT goes hand in hand with wrong perception that such technologies arte for the rich people, or that having them in a house is a sign of extravagancy. Indeed, a advocated that if people from all walks of life will realize the essence of ICT in their lives, then everything will be simplified. According to him, the government bureaucracy has been caused to a large extent by lacking a proper system of e-government. The education sector similarly is lagging behind because it lacks ICT facilities in the classroom. Once ICT is installed in a classroom, one teacher will manage to teach a number of schools at the same time and a doctor will manage to prescribe medicine far apart from his or her patient. Once there is proper utilization of ICT in government offices, there will be no falls-in for passports in immigration offices or flocking of customers at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) or at Business Registration Licensing Authority (BRELA). The banking sector in the country has set a good example by improving its services through the use of ICT particularly in e-government and ATM machines.