Uganda: Government invests in ICT to achieve MDGs

Highway Africa News Agency

The Uganda government is taking steps to strategize ICT as a priority sector for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and to fight poverty.

According to the Information and Communications Technology minister Dr. Ham Mukasa Mulira, the first major step was the creation of the ministry.

"Previously Uganda's ICT environment did not have focused ownership that takes into account multi sectoral, cross cutting and catalytic nature of ICT," he said.

"This strategic decision is expected to result in an appropriately developed ICT sector through coordinated, focused and harmonized strategies and interventions to ensure maximum benefits and rapid transformation of the country,".He said The minister also pointed out that "In order to expedite the role of ICTs in a manner that compliments the private sector initiative, government has developed a national ICT master plan under which it is implementing initiatives aimed at creating an enabling environment for the sector to grow."

"There is full liberalization of the telecommunications sector and more operators are being licensed to provide telecom services," he said.

A national data transmission backbone is being set up to strengthen the infrastructure for linking up all districts in the country and major towns.

The government has also developed a policy that would ensure that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are fully integrated in the curriculum and training at all levels, an official of ICT Ministry has said.

The objective is to eradicate adult illiteracy and ensure that young people are equipped with knowledge and skills to use Information and Communication Technologies including the capacity to analyse and treat information in creative and innovative ways.

He said the ministry through the Uganda Communications Commission has also promoted e-literacy skills for all by use of multipurpose community telecentres. "Special attention is being given to the rural communities through the Rural Communication Development Fund (RCDF),".

He said government is in the process of developing district information centres after establishment of the national backbone. These centres will act as information sharing and distribution points in the districts and with such adequate infrastructure and services in place, Ugandans should have the necessary skills to fully benefit from the ICT.

Capacity building and ICT literacy are central in achieving universal education worldwide through delivery of education and training of teachers and offering improved conditions for lifelong learning, encompassing people that are outside the formal education process and improving professional skills.

He said that the ministry has undertaken initiatives leading to the shaping of the sector market through policies and regulations. These policies will address the combined conflicting challenges of promoting the sector investment and growth and ensure national and non-discriminative reach of services and benefits to all parts of the country.