30 Oct 2017

Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Botswana faces challenges that should be addressed in order for the sector to prosper.

A senior ICT policy official in the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Mr Ronald Keikotlhaile, said the challenges included funding for infrastructural development, high transit costs, low internet broadband uptake and cyber security threats and vulnerabilities.

Mr Keikotlhaile was speaking during a one-day Academia, Industry and Government (AIG) 2017 Symposium held at the University of Botswana on Friday.

The symposium was organised by Computer Society of Botswana (CSB) under the theme, The Current State and the Future of ICT in Botswana.

Mr Keikotlhaile said while the country had connectivity in most places, high internet prices, and limited local content on the internet, as well as inadequate research and statistics contributed to low consumption of ICT services.

“For a country of its economic size Botswana is not doing well in terms of broadband uptake. So it is something that we have noted as a challenge.

The expectation is that we should be doing as well as countries of similar economies such as Morocco and Tunisia and Mauritius, but we are not doing as well as they are doing,” he said.

He added that security threats should not become regular occurrences if the sector were to build confidence in ICT services consumers.

He encouraged stakeholders in the sector to avoid working in silos and work together to address the challenges.

He said in an effort to address digital inclusion government had fast-tracked the e-Gov implementation, enhance department of information technology, and enhance infrastructure sharing.

He said statistics indicated that the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 2.2 per cent in 2011.

He said internet users stood at 39.4 per cent by June 2017, which was a dramatic increase from 28.9 per cent three years ago.

He said Facebook usage stood at 29 per cent while mobile phones subscription was 168 per cent.

The CSB chairperson, Dr Audrey Masizana, who is also head of Computer Studies at the University of Botswana, said the symposium provided a forum for stakeholders to come together and discuss issues concerning the ICT sector.

She said CSB promoted research and its application in ICT industry since research preceded innovation. BOPA