12 May 2019

University of Botswana (UB) Computer Science lecture, Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa has underscored the importance of government's  collaboration with higher institutions of learning in Information Communication Technology (ICT).

He was speaking at the launch of Southern African Innovation Support Programme Botswana University Industry-Government Co-creation Platform stakeholder workshop in Gaborone recently.

Dr Motshegwa said ICT enabled better market alignment and decision-making which in turn enhanced productivity through quality products and cost-effective service delivery.

He said there was potential for students to assist government in data compiling especially in sectors such as health, agriculture and education.

“I want to encourage the government to start challenging students to come up ICT initiatives that would assist or guide government in policy making,” he said.

He said educational content such as past exam papers and books could be compiled online and that different departments might use ICT to document information.

Dr Motshegwa further said ICT students were exploiting initiatives with potential to assist industries and encouraged industries to partner with students.

“Such initiatives strikes the right cord because ICT is important for solving problems of the modern day and as the university was challenged to produce well rounded graduates to do that,” he said.

He further commended government for investing in ICT and emphasised the need to have regional partners for cross-border dissertation of technology transfer.

The workshop that was organised in collaboration with Demola Network from Finland brought together inter alia, NGOs, civil society, startup companies and tertiary education students.

It sought to solicit among others input from stakeholders regarding the drafting of the Intellectual Property Regulatory (IPR) framework for co-creation platform and understanding of stakeholder challenges. ENDS