5th June 2004
“ICTs: Leading the way to sustainable development”
Programme Director,
(Minister and) Deputy Minister of Communications,
MEC’s and Executive Mayors.
Members of Parliament and Counselors:
Today, the Mpumalanga Province is proud to host the South African National
Celebrations of the 2004 World Telecommunications Day as observed by the United
Nations.
We welcome to the Province the Ministry of Communications, the Department of Communications Portfolio Organisations, the captains of the Telecommunications industry in South Africa and all the participants in this important national event.
The theme of this year's observance of World Telecommunication Day, “ ICTs:
Leading the way to sustainable development” serves as a reminder to all of us of
the crucial role that the Information and Communications Technologies are
playing in our continued struggle against poverty, ignorance and diseases.
As the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan stated in his World
Telecommunications Day message: “ … today many people can not imagine daily life
without the use of increasingly sophisticated information and communication
technologies (ICTs), from television and radio to the mobile telephone and the
Internet. Yet for millions of people in the world's poorest countries, there
remains a "digital divide" excluding them from the benefits of ICTs”
For the theme: “ ICTs: Leading the way to sustainable development” to become a reality, ICT’s must be accessible to communities living in the under serviced areas of our country. We applaud the work of the Department of Communications and the Universal Service Agency in deploying ICT Centres in our under serviced rural areas and townships.
We are grateful to the Universal Service Agency for their current deployment of 30 ICT centres in the poorest areas of our province. We realise that ICTs alone may not feed the hungry, eradicate poverty or reduce child mortality, but they are an important catalyst for economic growth, delivery of education, health and other government socio-economic services.
By focusing on the deployment of information and communication technologies in the under-serviced areas, the Universal Service Agency is playing an important role in making South Africa globally competitive in that, these efforts create socio economic and professional opportunities for new markets and foreign investment.
As Kofi Annan stated: “Affordable technologies, in the hands of local communities, can be effective engines of change, both social and material. Access to information and technological know-how is essential if the world is to defeat hunger, protect the environment. But to harness this potential, we need to forge global partnerships for development between governments, the private sector and the civil society.”
On this year’s World Telecommunication Day being celebrated here in the province of Mpumalanga, let us resolve to do all we can to promote awareness of ICTs as a tool for economic and social development. ICTs allow for more efficient agricultural production, diversity and distribution. They offer the possibility of delivering basic health services to those in dire need living in areas with little or no access to healthcare facilities. They can extend the reach of educators allowing them to bring knowledge to the most remote corners of our country.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU): “Access to information technology can boost the creation of small companies and groupings of artisans in the poorest and most isolated areas of the world and help them join the mainstream of national and even global markets.
Information technology makes it possible to leapfrog poor infrastructures so that distance from markets is no longer a drawback and poor distribution channels a thing of the past. Given their enormous power to improve people's economic, social and cultural well-being, ICTs must be at the centre of any development strategy.”
The major challenge facing the implementation of the ICT’s in our country is the integration of the resources of all three spheres of government, national, provincial and local governments in ICT capacity building for optimal utilisation of ICT’s. The integration we seek must, for instance, ensure that when a school or a clinic is built, there must be a road to access it. It must be electrified and supplied with water.
It must have the requisite personnel, qualified to meet the educational or health needs of that particular community. When an ICT Centre is deployed in a school, community centre, or clinic the end users of the ICT’s must be properly trained on how to utilize the ICT’s for the delivery of e-education, e-health, e-business development of SMME’s and e-government services.
As we celebrate this World Telecommunications Day today, and the 10th Anniversary of our Democracy this year, let us focus our attention on the strategic role which ICTs can play in improving governance and delivery of government services to the under serviced areas of our country. Let us use ICT’ s to give a voice to people who have been isolated, or have been invisible and silent, allowing them to speak out regardless of their gender and where they live.
And above all, let us mobilise all ICT stakeholders in our country to unite in action ensure that: “ICTs truly lead the way to sustainable development.”
Thank you