THE e–BRAIN FORUM OF ZAMBIA
Report of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Local Government Workshop.
Theme: “ICTs for Sustainability: Can Local Councils Build Capacity for Change”
Held on 23rd –24th January 2004, Andrews Motel,
Lusaka, Zambia
CONTENTS PAGE
1. Background ……………………………………………1
2. Workshop Proceedings………………………..…. ….2
3. Official Opening…………………………………..……3
4. Aims and Objectives of e-Brain……………….………4
5. Definition of e-Governance…………………….……..4
6. Benefits of e-Governance……………………………..5
7. Dangers of e-Governance……………………….…… 6
8. ICT Situation in Zambia……………….…....…………8
9. IT……………………………………………………….. 9
10. Other ICTs…………………………………………….9
11. IT Utilisation……………………………………………9
12. LLC e-Governance Report…………………………….12
13. ICT for All ...…………………………………………..13
14. ICT Draft Policy ……………………………………….14
15. Discussion Groups…………………………………….14
16. Recommendations……………………………………16
17. Conclusion……………………………………….……17
Appendices
a. Workshop Evaluation…………………………………18
b. List of Attendants…………………………...………..20
1.BACKGROUND
The e-Brain Forum of Zambia hosted a conference for selected local authorities to disseminate findings of a survey on the Electronic Distance Training on Sustainability in African Local Governments (EDITOSIA) at Andrews Motel in Lusaka from 23 to 24 January, 2004.
The EDITOSIA report is an analysis of the current use of ICTs, accessibility, application and conditions in African local governments with specific reference to Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. It also forecasts accessibility and applications of ICTs in the same region.
The Particular objectives of the conference were to discuss the findings of the report with local government practitioners and to show case and discuss results of the e-governance/UNESCO Project. The conference also aimed at developing awareness on the potential of ICTs for development in local authorities and to initiate partnership for the development of appropriate feasible e-training programmes for the local government
2.WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS
The workshop was chaired by e-Brain Chairperson Moses Mwale who, in welcoming the guests and introducing the guest of honour, explained that while the workshop could be thought of being about sharing ICT resources or about software and hardware, it was more importantly about people.
He said ICTs in Local government were about people of Zambia sharing a common vision of how the tools and products commonly referred to as ICTs can be used to stimulate development through initiatives of people in local councils.
Mr. Mwale gave a brief background of how the conference came into being saying it was from a realisation that the dissemination of the 2002 survey in local government needed a meeting with the stakeholders; the policy makers and technocrats in local government. He said there was also need to find a synergy among the different efforts working in the areas of local government and ICTs.
He observed that computer software, a component of ICTs, permeates every thing done by human beings today, adding that the Internet has changed, and is continuing to change the world more than anything else.
Mr. Mwale reminded participants that the conference was not a mere talk shop as there were activities that he hoped would produce concrete, follow-up action. He said the Electronic Distance Training on Sustainability in African local governments (EDITOSIA) project was awaiting the outcomes of the conference on the use of local councils as focal points for distance learning.
3.OFFICIAL OPENING
The Minister of Local Government and Housing, Ms. Sylvia Masebo officially opened the ICT in Local Government Conference. She observed that it was gratifying to note that it had to take a non-governmental organisation to spearhead such an important initiative in support of government efforts in the direction of ICTs.
Mrs Masebo said that such partnerships needed to be enhanced for the benefit of the entire society. She was of the view that the efforts of the participants and organisers would improve service delivery and good governance through enhanced transparency, democratisation, effective partnerships and networking between and among civic leaders, communities, other government departments and donors.
Mrs. Masebo noted that ideas from the workshop could filter into parliamentary debates especially in regard to the local government ministry funding portfolio, since the workshop was taking place when the parliamentary debates had just commenced.
Mrs. Masebo said she took cognisance of the collaborative role e-brain was playing with government in publicising the launched draft national ICT policy. She described the partnership as progressive and hoped that it would provide immense impetus for meaningful inputs from participating civic leaders and that their contributions would filter back into the operations of their respective local authorities.
She said that the aspirations of e-Brain Forum were in line with part of the mandate of the government articulated and implemented through the ministry of Transport and communications.
She said that the decentralisation policy was primarily aimed at capacitating the local authorities with adequate resources for managing functions such as education, health and maintaining law and order. She said that as such the effective use and efficient application of ICTs was a priority.
She implored participants to act as district champions of ICTs in the local governance process and related developmental purposes. She also cautioned participants that any local authority that did not rise to the challenge of the dynamics of the ‘Information Age’ would remain stagnant in their developmental efforts.
She said no one could avert ICTs as they keep advancing and would be constantly accelerating the dissemination of the fruits of the Global Village. She added that globalisation did not wait for people that are slow in coping with ICTs phenomena as the phenomena dictated that one has to either move at tandem or lag behind.
Mrs Masebo added, government was prepared to take up the challenge of providing some of the required resources vis-à-vis qualified human resources and other pertinent facilities in the advancement of ICTs.
4.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF e-BRAIN FORUM
The e-Brain Forum Coordinator Mr. Margree Chilwesa explained the objectives and aims of e-Brain Forum. He said it began in 2001 in order to foster networking and contribute to the setting of ICT on the national agenda for development.
He said its principle objective was to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life through effective and efficient USE of ICT in the Sharing Best Practices through Information Networking.” e-Brain Forum aims at empowering its members and those concerned about the status of ICT use in Zambia by sharing ideas and best practices through networking.
He said the Forum would lobby, advocate and influence ICT policy formulation at macro level [Government] and at the micro level [private enterprise and new business development]
The Forum aims at an increase in the membership to over 80 organisations and institutions. Currently, the Forum has 105 individual members and less than 10 institutional members country- wide.
5.DEFINITION OF E-GOVERNANCE
Dr. Fackson Banda, Director of Panos, Southern Africa, presented a paper entitled ‘e-Governance in Zambia: toward better public service delivery.’
Dr. Banda broadly defined e-Governance as a ‘digitalisation of government service delivery mechanisms.’ He said e-Government was not about supplanting what exists and completely replacing it with new forms of government organisation, but that it was about technological enhancement and /or realigning of existing government systems of service delivery.
Dr. Banda, who dwelled more on service delivery mechanisms, said some people view e-government as the application of information Technology to the processes of government functioning to bring about simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent governance. Dr. Banda amplified this view as denoting that e-governance makes possible the attainment of good governance ideals such as simplicity of service delivery, morality and integrity in the public sector as well as accountability, responsiveness and transparency in the discharge of public goods and services.
He said that the third view of e-governance held that it is the application of electronic means or tools in two distinct arenas of government performances, which are the interaction between government and citizens as well as between government and business; and the internal government operations to simplify and improve the democratic, governmental and business aspects of governance.
In summing his definition of e-governance, Dr Banda said it is ‘an electronic interactive public sphere in which the governors and the governed effectively and efficiently clinch deals about public goods and services. He said it was an electronic de-bureaucratising of the traditional governmental systems of delivering public goods and services.
5.1.BENEFITS OF e-GOVERNANCE
Dr. Banda outlined three possible benefits of e-governance as: De-bureaucratisation and simplification of government processes and procedures, realigning and integrating governmental processes into the global information society and trust and confidence in public institutions.
On de-bureaucratising of local government, Dr Banda said that existing rigid governmental structures and process that tend to inhibit the speedy delivery of goods and services can be eliminated and replaced by a speedy and more efficient electronic system.
On realigning governmental processes into the global information society, he said the Internet was one service the government could use to reach even Zambians living in foreign lands. He said by the use of the Internet, such Zambians could engage in local politics and could thus be entitled to the provisions of public services such as renewals of passports, voting, investment opportunities and visa applications.
On trust and confidence, Dr. Banda said the use of electronic technologies could help make government more open and accessible thus creating trust between government and the citizens. He said by putting information about policies, programs and services online, the government would be more transparent. He said the trust would help citizens to appreciate the challenges government faced and that it would encourage public officials to make decisions in a manner that would withstand public scrutiny.
5.2.DANGERS OF e-GOVERNANCE
Dr Banda also outlined the problems generally associated with ICTs and e-governance. He said there were two basic schools of thought on the dangers of ICTs namely; the liberal critique that maintains that information society should be the outcome of an informed democratic process and that as long as people are alert to the dangers of ICTs, development would be appropriate and beneficial socially. And the Luddite critique, which says that although technology itself is neutral, it is in the hands of and is controlled by people and groups whose primary interest is to make money and not the possible social good of ICTs.
Dr. Banda further said ICT has three more classes of problems namely, Operational (technical and economic); contextual (social-culture characteristics of each region); and strategic (local, national and international policy)
He said operational problems include lack of technical efficiency of power plants, the low quality of the African electricity network and the inaccessibility of transmission channels, such as satellites. In particular to Zambia is the lack of technical skills among the majority of citizens to apply ICTs to their own individual realms especially to apply them for appropriating any online governmental services. Such lack of skills means that it would be difficult to service and maintain the new technologies that would make e-government possible.
Dr. Banda explained that contextual problems are those being occasioned by the fear that the transfer of Western technology only leads to economic and cultural dependency. He said there were also the unintended consequences of laying off people that are computer illiterate from the ministries, especially if the cost of retraining them is not justifiable.
Strategic problems are those that occur largely as a result of some telecommunications trans-national companies whose business interests may go against the national-development aspirations of countries in Africa.
Dr. Banda concluded by suggesting that government should establish a clear vision of how it wishes to evolve as an institution, and how it will harness technology to the next generation of government operations, programs and services. He said e-governance should not be based on determinism and that the vision must be captured in a statement of government priorities and that change initiatives should be harnessed together.
6.ICT SITUATION IN ZAMBIA
Mr. Milner Makuni, the Vice chairperson of the Computer Society of Zambia, when he presented a paper answered the question, ‘can local councils build capacity for change’ in the affirmative.
Mr Makuni gave a graphic and numerical description of the ICT situation in Zambia. He said the regulatory function of ICT was in the hands of the Communications authority that falls under the Ministry of transport and Communications and has the jurisdiction mainly in the telecommunications industry. It also regulates the licensing and use of the radio frequency spectrum in the broadcasting industry for both radio and Television transmission.
He explained the role of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, which he said has the jurisdiction to regulate the operations in the broadcasting industry
He said cabinet had approved the Cyber Bill. He said the cyber bill was concerned with Internet security, Privacy, data protection, digital frauds and hacking controls etc
On Telecommunications, Mr. Makuni said that Zamtel was the only licensed operator allowed to provide fixed telephone services to the public. Current coverage included all districts except Kaputa and Sesheke, which were not connected to network via a domestic satellite system. He said there were approximately 96,000 main lines in operation or more and a telephone density of 0.93 lines per hundred populations.
On Mobile phones, Mr. Makuni said there were three operators in the Cellular market using Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications technology namely Celtel, Cell Z and Telecel. Services provided included standard voice and added value services such as SMS and Voice mail.
He said there were approximately 270,000 Cellular subscribers in Zambia.
On the National ICT infrastructure backbone Mr. Makuni said Copperbelt Energy Corporation had installed a 24-core 520km optical Fibre backbone on the Copperbelt covering all mining towns and that Zesco had a 45KM optical fibre cable between Lusaka and Kafue.
He said that Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation was the major player in the broadcasting industry operating a television and three radio stations. (Radio 1 transmitting in seven Zambian languages; Radio 2 and 4 only in English).
ZNBC TV covered 35 per cent of Zambia’s land space and reaches 45 per cent of the population. Quality of signals required significant improvement in locations far away from provincial headquarters.
He said four Private investors had been licensed to operate TV broadcasting services in Lusaka and Copperbelt. Two more TV operators were Trinity Broadcasting Network and Cable Satellite Techonology (CASAT) and Multichoice Zambia ltd.
He enumerated Radio broadcasting stations as: Yatsani, Radio Maria, Radio Chikuni, Radio Chikaya, Radio Liseli and radio Chengelo owned by the Catholic Church.
He mentioned others as Christian Voice, Radio Phoenix FM, Radio Choice FM, Sky FM, and Radio Breeze, 5-FM, QFM and other community Radio stations that included Radio Mazabuka, Radio Dove, Radio Lyambai, Hone FM and Radio Mano.
On the field of human resources development and training, Mr. Makuni said ICT Skilled Manpower had seen a brain drain mostly to neighbouring countries. He said there had been no formal study on ICT literacy and professional skill levels conducted but that gaps were showing in IT Software developers, Local content developers, professional broadcasters and Telecommunication engineer experts.
Mr Makuni numbered ICT training providers as: University of Zambia, Copperbelt University, Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS), Zambia Insurance Business Trust (ZIBC), Zambia Institute of Management Trust (ZAMIM), National Imports and Exports Corporation (NIEC) School of Business, National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Evelyn Hone College,, UNZA Cisco Academy, Millennium training centre (Microsoft certification centre), and Zamtel Staff training College.
He said eleven Secondary Schools offered Computer Studies and examinations were conducted by Examinations Council of Zambia at grade Twelve level. There was no official curriculum for ICT in primary and secondary Schools.
He said more secondary schools were benefiting from donated Computers from abroad and later schoolnet had been revived.
6.1.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (IT)
On information Technologies, he said that there were in Zambia more than 100-registered computer firms and their activities centred mainly on:
Computer and software sales, Computer Software and Hardware Maintenance services, Computer Vendor based training, Computer hardware Warranty Centres, Computer hardware, software and networking distributors (wholesalers to computer firms), Computer networking (LAN and WAN), Software Development, IT Consultancy Firms, Internet Service Providers, and Computer Consumables like Toner and Ink Cartridges and Ribbons.
He however said less than ten were certified to offer hardware, software and IT solutions from manufactures of hardware and software.
He said Zambia imported both Hardware (100%) and Software (99%) and duty for software and printer consumables were 25 per cent while printers, computers and other peripheral devices were 15 per cent. 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax was charged on all IT products.
He said Zambia had five Internet Service Providers and gave an estimate of paying customers for Internet and email services as follows:
There were about 7,500 paying customers and they broke down as follows:
* Zamnet 3,500
* Coppernet 1,800
* Zamtel 1,500
* There were new companies like Micro link and UUNet which had subscribers in hundreds.
He said Internet Café Charged from K1, 500.00 for 15 Minutes for use of Internet.
He estimated that there were about 40,000 Internet users and categorized them as: Commercial, Academic, Research, NGO, /UN/ International Government Others (personal emails etc)
He said there were no local content on the Internet and no website was in local languages.
6.2.OTHER ICTs
Mr Makuni outlined other information communication technologies as follows: