I.C.T. conference focus on access to internet in Africa

CAPE TOWN (Xinhua) -- The Information and Communication Technology  (ICT) Indaba continued here on Wednesday, with a focus on promoting access to the internet in Africa , organizers said.

Participants stressed the need to tap the potential for internet services on the continent, where most of its population remain out of reach.

With a population of about one billion,  the continent made up 14 percent of the world’s population, but only 5.7 perent of Africans had access to the internet. Of the world’s internet users, only 3.6 percent are from Africa , according to figures provided by the conference which kicked off on Monday.

The International Telecoms Union’s ICT Development Index shows that no African country was placed in the top 50 countries out of the 154 on the list.

For Houlin Zhao, the deputy secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), this gap provides profound opportunities.

Africa was the most dynamic continent, with 57 percent mobile penetration, he said,  adding that the continent had the potential to overtake the Asia-Pacific region in access to mobile and broadband communication if it continued on its current trajectory.

He said the industry, government leaders and youths shared a strong commitment to seeing Africa grow.

An encouraging at the conference is that South Africa is spearheading efforts to change the status quo. One step would be to lookhttp://www.coastweek.com/3523_20.htm at ways that entrepreneurs can adopt green technology and consider ways to bring more rural areas online - especially because 55 percent of Africans live in rural areas,  the South African delegation said.

African countries must approve internet access for libraries, schools, health care centres and science centres, SA Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said at the conference.

Improved access to the internet and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can help Africa to meet its social and economic goals, said Motlanthe.

“We believe that strategic investment in ICT will allow Africa to increasingly play a role in the development of new applications and technological innovations that are relevant for the needs of our continent and that this will ensure a continued multiplier effect on economic growth,” he said.

He said South Africa should consider best practice in smart cities and skilled workers that have helped to developed knowledge economies.

Seventy percent of employees in the developed world worked in the knowledge economy, Motlanthe said, adding that the biggest commodity in the world today was knowledge and the ability to generate access and distribute knowledge, which was key to developing any country.

He cited South Africa as an example, saying ICT had helped propel South Korea from a developing nation, which in 1960 had a GDP equal to that of Nigeria , Ghana and Cameroon , but within 30 years had grown to become one of the eight richest countries in the world.

Endorsed by the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the four-day ICT conference will identify the challenges and seek solutions to capitalise on the potential of the ICT sector so as to bring about long term-socio-economic development.

It will provide a platform for dialogue among the world’s ICT experts focusing on the developing and underdeveloped conditions.