IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The team noted that the State Data Centre is being professionally managed and were touched to see how ICT has empowered the differently abled. One of the team members also individually complimented Vinod Babu, a Master Trainer at INSIGHT, who demonstrated the use of spreadsheet for making calculations. At the Akshaya State Office, the team had interactions with the Korath V Mathew, Director, Akshaya and understood about the various services provided by Akshaya.

Laying the cable, which commenced in May last year, was supposed to be completed in December last year and once complete the link was expected to bolster service provision by state-owned telecommunications companies NetOne and TelOne.

Recently, there was a lot of excitement stirred up when Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile operator, released the Application Program Interface (API) for its mobile money service M-PESA to local and international developers.

The value in this release lies in the opportunities for integration to mobile money which developers of applications and solutions now possess. In its announcement, Safaricom took the time to spell out some of the opportunities that this move was introducing to the app development space and it pledged to organise workshops where issues around the integration would be explored.

Twenty-seven years ago, less than half of Estonia's population had a telephone. Today, the country could provide Zimbabwe with an ICT option for mulled Diaspora participation in elections back home: the e-vote.

On Monday at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the United States, President Emmerson Mnangagwa met Estonian Prime Minister 1/4 ri Ratas, and one of the more interesting issues discussed in that engagement was e-voting, or how people can vote for their public officials online.

Speaking during a brief presentation ceremony in the Cabinet Room at Munhumutapa Offices, Mugabe said the e-government programme, which focuses on modernising government systems and processes through the use of information and communication technologies, is a part of the results-based management programme which government is implementing.

While the world is fast-moving towards the reduction of paperwork and bureaucracy in government systems and processes, most governments in developing countries are still lagging behind.

The adoption of the ‘Smart City” concept in Zimbabwe is expected to generate the much-needed investments that will boost economic growth towards the targeted upper middle-income status by 2030.

This emerged during the one-day Zimbabwe Smart Cities and Rural Communities Infrastructure Forum in Bulawayo on Tuesday where experts pointed out that smart city modelling was a global phenomenon and Zimbabwe should not be left behind.

One piece of legislation which is meant to complement the National ICT Policy  is the Electronic Communications and Electronic Commerce Draft Bill. This bill seeks to achieve a number of objectives that are associated with electronic communications and e-commerce.

Firstly, it seeks to promote the legal certainty and enforceability of electronic transactions and electronic commerce. Secondly, the draft Bill seeks to grant legal recognition to electronic communications and writing. Thirdly, the draft Bill is to provide for the legal effect of electronic signatures and secure electronic signatures.

A multi-sectoral delegation from Trinidad and Tobago will this week travel to East Africa to share technology development experiences with counterparts at an international conference in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The TT delegation includes Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Ms Arlene McComie; CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago ICT Company, Mr. Cleveland Thomas; Managing Director of Teleios Systems and Deputy Chairman of the e-Business Round Table, Mr. Ronald Hinds; and Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Ms. Bernadette Lewis.

The Umguza Rural District Council (RDC) is transforming the Ntabazinduna area into a smart city, with the industrial corridor along the Ntabazinduna Road turn-off from the Bulawayo-Harare Road already showing progress. This development is part of the Zimbabwe National Human Settlement Plan (ZNHSP) and aligns with Vision 2030 and President Mnangagwa's directive for local authorities to develop masterplans that improve service delivery.

Smart cities, which use advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) and sustainable practices, are designed to enhance urban living by improving operational efficiency, public services, and overall quality of life. Ntabazinduna's transformation is expected to follow these global trends.

The grand plan for ICTs is to basically improve connectivity for the masses by deploying ICTs for improved government efficiency (e-Government), enhance e-learning and conduct ICT Research and development.

Construction has begun at the Zimbabwe Cyber City in Mount Hampden, near Harare, marking the start of a significant real estate development phase in the country.

The project, initiated by Mulk International under the direction of Dubai-based billionaire Shaji Ul Mulk, was proposed to President Mnangagwa during his visit to the United Arab Emirates.

According to the World Bank’s ease of doing business 2018 ranking, Zimbabwe gained two places to 159 out of 190.

While government has been embarking on e-governance, Zimbabwe Information and Communication Technologies (ZICT), a division of Zimbabwe Institution of Engineering (ZIE), decided to analyse the government websites.

Zimbabwe’s highly anticipated high-tech cyber city has taken a significant step forward as 50 villa units have officially gone on sale. This milestone has captured the attention of international cricket luminaries, local pension funds, and Zimbabweans living abroad, signaling the immense potential of the project.

Located in Mount Hampden, western Harare, the construction of this visionary cyber city is set to commence in the coming days. The initial phase aims to deliver 50 villa units out of the proposed 233 within the next one and a half to two years, marking the beginning of a new era of economic and social development.

Zimbabwe has completed a US$218 million rollout of 4G network as government sustains its policy to facilitate the delivery of a digital society as a key component for economic growth.

The Southern African country has also embarked in a $100 million project to ensure rollout of optic fibre, to attain these targets.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam the ZEC deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe commended Tanzanian National Electoral Commission (NEC) for overseeing peaceful elections in Tanzania.

She added that Zimbabwe was optimistic that Tanzania would succeed in its endeavour to ensure electoral efficiency by introducing a biometric system.

If approved, the ICT Bill will put in place a new strategic ICT plan for the country, launched in February.

According to SciDev.Net, Nelson Chamisa, Zaimbabwe’s ICT Minister, said the Bill’s five-year plan would unify ICT strategies in the country, aim to develop further the ICT infrastructure and enhance the capacity to produce hardware and software locally.

The prevailing hardcopy system or health records is outdated and a nightmare. At the central hospital level, shortage of storage cabinets and folders has seriously hampered the ability to retrieve records and gather information for research. A trip to the records department to retrieve a patient’s old clinical notes can prove to be a Finding Nemo mission of swimming through an ocean of paper.

Zimbabwe has intensified efforts to introduce e-government services with the objective of improving information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure in the country.

E-government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses and other arms of government.

e-Government is the use of ICTs to enhance access to and delivery of services to citizens, business partners and workers.