News & Events

GABORONE, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Botswana has intended to spur economic growth through digital transformation, said Douglas Letsholathebe, Minister of Tertiary Education.

With recent trends influenced by COVID-19 some business sectors continue to experience a downfall in revenues from investments. However, the ICT space has proved to be blooming even during the pandemic. In an interview with BOPA, ICT Dynamix founder and chairperson of Botswana Internet Service Provider Association (BISPA) Dr Bernard Ndove said the transition to a knowledge-based economy has led to digitization being at the core of every booming business especially during times of the pandemic where Internet Service Provider (ISP) companies continue to earn leverage.

Palapye — It is imperative for Botswana to build a local cyber security culture that promotes the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), says Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Thulagano Segokgo.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers responsible for Transport, Information Communication Technologies (ICT), and Meteorology met on 9th July 2021 to discuss various sectoral issues around infrastructure and development in support of SADC regional integration and development. The meeting was officially opened by Honourable Janfar Abdulai, the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Mozambique, and Chairperson of the SADC Committee of Ministers Responsible for Transport, ICT, Information, and Meteorology. Hon. Abdulai said, as one of the founding members of SADC, Mozambique was committed to the implementation of SADC decisions as well as other initiatives aimed at capitalising on its potential in the transport and communications sector. He noted that this the year 2021 has witnessed the completion of regional projects such as the construction of the Kazungula Bridge linking Botswana and Zambia; the launch, by His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Mozambique and Chairperson of SADC, of the SADC Centre for Humanitarian and Emergency Operations, in the Nacala Province; and the installation of meteorological equipment in the SADC Member States to improve the early warning system and the field of information and communication technologies in meteorology. He said Mozambique’s geostrategic location and the existence of a complex of road, rail and port infrastructure gave the country enhanced accountability in the Region, especially in logistics for imports and exports from the hinterland Member States.

In the communications field, he said, the Region faces challenges to meet the goals of promoting access to broadband to reduce the digital divide and accelerate the development of SADC countries. The COVID-19 pandemic demanded quality in telecommunications to enable telework, therefore there was a need for these goals to be achieved immediately and not in 2025 as planned. Hon. Abdulai said at a time the effects of climate change were already being felt in the world and in the Region, SADC was challenged to harmonize and complement the different strategies and actions for greater efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

In her remarks, SADC Executive Secretary Her Excellency Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax highlighted notable achievements recorded in the transport, ICT, information, and meteorology sectors. These include effective implementation of the Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology where a number of programmers and projects have been implemented, including the development of Model Legislative Provisions (MLPs) that have served as guidelines for the implementation of agreed policies. The SADC Corridor Management Strategy was approved in 2008 and has served as the basic framework for cooperation and coordination in transport integration. The corridors strategy focuses on developing legal instruments for joint governance of corridors; institutional frameworks for joint and coordinated management of transport corridors; and prioritization and implementation of critical corridor transport and logistics infrastructure. In the ICT sector, the Region saw the establishment of two cross-border terrestrial optical fiber links for regional and international transit traffic, and 26 SADC Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), a vital component of the Internet eco-system, accounting for 57% share of the IXPs in Africa. The establishment of the SADC Climate Services Centre has contributed to the enhancement of the capacity of the Region in the production and dissemination of timely and credible meteorological and climate information that is used for socio-economic planning, and disaster risk management.

Source: Southern African Development Community
11 Jul, 2021
https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-ministers-transport-ict-information-and-meteorology-meet-discuss-sectoral-issues/

Mr Lun and his Cape Town-based company, Hyper nova Space Technologies, are keen to give these tumbling satellites a little bit more autonomy. The firm has developed a thruster system that could give even the smallest types of satellites the capacity to move around.

Botswana’s information technology and communication (ICT) sector may be about to receive a boost, after news that the country’s government has decided to direct more projects towards locally owned ICT businesses.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications plans to adopt an ecosystem approach to facilitate ICT stakeholders to recover from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Minister Thulagano Segokgo.

In 2015, China added the Digital Silk Road (DSR) to its massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While Beijing uses DSR to offer a suite of technologies to BRI countries, Huawei’s effort to provide next-generation communication networks to countries has drawn the most scrutiny in the United States.

Huawei Technologies Botswana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) to facilitate and contribute to the digitalization of Botswana's education.

Angolan government has decided to create the information and communication technologies offices in all ministerial departments and private networks to ensure development of various services.

According to local artist and entrepreneur Danielle Orkin, the adoption of technology for entertainment, learning and developmental assessment amongst children is expected to increase in South Africa significantly because of the rise of smart device usage in the country.

Orkin is the developer of South Africa's first of its kind locally developed edutainment app for children, Monster Moogle, which was recently launched by Colormeclever Digital Kids, a partnership formed between Orkin and tech start up accelerators Fontera Skunk Works (a division of Fontera Digital Works) and SeedEngine.

The Rwanda Media Hub, the first incubator for digital media and media production enterprises in East Africa, will today be launched by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR).

The media incubator with $450,000 (about Rwf301m) in seed funding will support local media entrepreneurs with access to seed grants, office space and mentoring to help foster a vibrant media in the country.

According to the article published on IT News Africa website, Microsoft yesterday co-chaired a roundtable discussion on the need for private and public partnerships (PPPs) to deliver relevant, sustainable and scalable solutions that will promote e-learning in Africa.

According to an articled publised on IT News Africa website, South Africa's Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry is becoming more accessible to women. Over the past few years, a number of senior female executives have moved up the ranks, but the numbers, compared to male counterparts are still low. Kgabo Ralebepa, Associate Director in the IT Audit division at SekelaXabiso believes it is up to her female counterparts to turn these figures around.

Women should focus on developing their business and leadership skills which will enable them to take up leadership roles within any organisation. This can be done by further developing their management skills and getting involved in other areas of their respective businesses.

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Uganda will host the 9th E -Learning African conferences on information and communication Technology for the development, Education and training.

The meeting which is scheduled to commence on the 28th - 30th May in Kampala, Uganda at the common wealth resort Speke Hotel Munyonyo on the shores of Lake Victoria, will explore how technology revolutionizing learning and training across the continent can led to the improvement in the trainings being conducted by the various training institutions in Africa , the eLearning Africa 2014 will bring together policy experts, educational professionals and business leaders to tackle this and other topics.

CIOS and IT managers are faced with higher expectations from their businesses than ever before - which thry must with tighter budgets.

The balance of power between IT departments and the rest of the business has shifted decisively in the past few years. Users are no longer prepared to take IT’s word for it about what is and isn’t possible. The new generation of virtualised modern data centres needs to meet exceptionally high expectations for round-the-clock availability and reliability.

Nairobi — The Chief Scientist of IBM Research Africa, Dr. Uyi Stewart has said that African governments are not spending enough money in building Informationa Communication Technology Infratsructure to leapflog into the information age which is the most valuable commodity.

The Wikimedia Foundation is on the quest to expand its content and access to it for users in developing nations.

As part of its 'Wikipedia Zero' initiative the foundation is trying to make mobile access to Wikipedia free of internet data charges and to develop content in local languages.

"We started Wikipedia Zero because we [perceived] the trend that Wikipedia usage is shifting to mobiles, and [for it to] grow and expand in developing countries, we needed to [do more to] support the service on mobile," says Carolynne Schloeder, director of mobile programs at the Wikimedia Foundation.

As a result of high-level meetings at this year's Mobile World Congress, seven major mobile operators across Africa and the Middle East have developed a roadmap to cooperate on network infrastructure sharing initiatives.
“We are greatly encouraged by the shared vision of mobile operators and the common urgency to find solutions that will drive down the cost of mobile and Internet services and help connect the unconnected,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA.

Twitter activity in Africa during the last quarter of 2013 peaked on the day of Nelson Mandela’s death, according to How Africa Tweets, a new study analysing Twitter activity on the continent.