IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Cabinet yesterday approved an integrated National Infrastructure Development Master Plan that will ensure that development of the country's infrastructure and utilities will be done in a coordinated manner in line with Government's policy.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the plan would be achieved primarily through the formulation of an integrated national infrastructural development master plan covering requirements of various sectors of the economy.

As well as modernizing the country's financial system, the government is also laying the foundations for Zimbabwe to become a digital society by 2015.

While this may sound ambitious for a developing country, the information technology and communications landscape has changed exponentially since 2008; the cellphone telephony penetration rate skyrocketed from 13 percent to 72 percent in 2011, while Internet penetration jumped from 1.3 percent in 2008 to 24 percent last year, amounting to some 1.42 million users.

Construction of the proposed Melfort Smart City in Mashonaland East province is set to gather pace after Government secured investors for the project.

It will be strategically located, along the Harare-Mutare Highway.

A smart city is a municipality, where digital technology and green-energy innovations are central to the provision of better services for residents and businesses. In an interview with The Sunday Mail, National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe said they have made “tremendous progress on smart city development”. The identity of the new investors, he said, will be announced in due course to avoid jeopardising ongoing negotiations.

ITGCSI also assists organisations identify how they use information to meet their strategic business goals, then determine the best ways to protect their information assets throughout the information security lifecycle.

The independent and non-profit trust was founded end of 2011.

Zimbabwe's urban population has increased from 33% of the national total, in 2012 to 38.6%, in April 2022.

The country's urban population is now 5.86 million, out of the 15.9 million total. Amidst the growing urbanization, Harare's roads and its waste management systems were declared a state of disaster, in 2017 and July 2023, respectively.

The team has been holding consultative meetings with stakeholders throughout the country on the ICT policy since June this year.

The draft policy is expected to be presented to Cabinet once all the views gathered have been consolidated into the document.

President Mugabe said Government was implementing the results-based management programme to improve public service delivery.

"One of the major thrusts of that programme is e-government, which focuses on modernising Government systems and processes through the use of information and communication technologies.

Mupingo made the remarks last Friday at a workshop organised for city fathers from Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces.

“It’s high time that we in the local government sector get appropriately equipped in terms of e-government so that we have strategic approaches to this subject,” he said.

The creation of a smart city with modern infrastructure and amenities in Chegutu is gathering pace as the layout plan is presently being finalised.

Risboro Farm, which measures 1 176 hectares, was handed over to the Chegutu Rural District Council (RDC) and the Chegutu Municipality by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in 2022 for the expansion of the town, as well as creation of the smart city.

A farm near Norton town in Chegutu area is being subdivided ahead of the planned establishment a “smart city” with a 105MW solar plant, 3 500 residential stands and 29 institutions including primary and secondary schools.

All the houses to be built will have solar panels on the roof to aid electricity generation from the settlement into the national grid during daylight hours and to give the houses stored back-up at night and when power is down.

A smart city deep in a rural area looks unthinkable to some, yet alone if that place is in Chivi district, far away from other well established areas.

Those who think this is difficult to implement base their arguments on the fact that rural areas are already under developed with less services and amenities.

But what they forget is that the coming in of a smart city in such an area means that services and the necessary amenities will follow this splendid development and within a short time the story of the area will change.

Victoria Falls is moving closer to becoming a smart tourism and green destination following plans to construct a renewable energy exhibition park and a 500MW solar plant which will be complemented by a tidal river plant on the Zambezi River.

Southpole Consulting, an international firm that was given Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status by the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida), is implementing the project.

Land measuring 300 hectares near the Victoria Falls International Airport has since been identified for the solar farm project.

The transformation of Figtree settlement into a smart city has started taking shape with technical teams working with Bulilima Rural District Council as Government moves to fully implement the smart cities concept in line with the recently launched climate policy.

Government adopted the smart city concept which is a global phenomenon as part of the country's modernisation thrust.

Figtree in Bulilima district, Matabeleland South, has been identified as one of three places in the country to be transformed into a digital and green energy smart city.

Announcing the plan in Bulawayo this week National Housing and Social Amenities minister Daniel Garwe said: “The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities has endeavoured to move with time and adopt strategies that conform to the dictates of the digitalised world and globalisation.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken break from his annual leave and officiated on the launch of the e-Cabinet system which signals the first phase of a move towards a paperless system to increase efficiency and timely Government documents, the Harare Post can report.

The e-Government programme is part of reforms to re-engineer, re-invigorate and modernise the public sector systems.

President Mnangagwa will tomorrow commission the multi-million dollar optic fibre link in Beitbridge, which connects the border town with South Africa and the rest of the country via Bulawayo and Masvingo and Harare.

The link was constructed by TelOne with the aid of a Chinese loan to expand national broadband network and to enhance efficient communication countrywide. The investment would make Zimbabwe an Information Communication Technology (ICT) hub for Southern Africa.

Zimbabwe is planning to link its proposed National Data Centre with databases and information from the country's key economic players and state institutions as the country prepares for the creation of smart cities equipped with surveillance technologies, The Standard has learnt.

This is part of an ambitious Smart Zimbabwe blueprint expected to transform urban areas into smart cities that use information and communication technologies (ICT) to increase efficiency and drive economic growth, according to a government master plan seen by this newspaper.

The programme, launched at Chogugudza Primary School in Goromonzi District, Mashonaland East Province, will spread to 100 more schools under the pilot project.

Also known as the Presidential e-Learning Programme, it follows the success of the Presidential Computerisation Programme, which saw President Mugabe donate at least 10 computers to each secondary school. While the programme was perceived as a political gimmick, the computerisation programme has moved a step further through the introduction of e-learning.

ICT minister Nelson Chamisa criticised service providers for profiteering despite duty exemptions for most of their communications equipment. He urged telephony providers to seek funding from investors rather than from the public.

Chamisa said Zimbabwe has made significant strides in the ICT sector and use of technology had increased from 13 percent to 72 percent.

John Mupangara (19) from Zaranyika village in Murewa is a delighted man.

The establishment of a community information centre (CIC) at Murewa Centre is a blessing as he no longer travels to Harare in search of internet. Mupangara, who is studying for a social science degree with a local university, is now spending most of his time at the CIC doing researches and other communication systems.

"The establishment of the information centre at Murewa Centre is a welcome development for all of us as we catch up with modernity," Mupangara said.