An unusual mid-term meeting was held this past weekend, between annual meetings of the president's International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development (PIAC on ISAD).
The purpose was to measure progress made as a result of the council's advice. The council was formed at the beginning of Thabo Mbeki's term, and its September 2008 meeting will be its last under the current government.
Implementation of the council's resolutions has been inconsistent, however, and it is unclear whether much progress has been made.
"Encouraging developments on e-skills" were noted by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, including the opening earlier this month of the e-Skills Academy of South Africa. But she said there was a need for a more comprehensive report on broadband and that government had resolved to "accelerate implementation of local loop unbundling, and work to bring forward the current deadline of 2011".
The key resolution of the one-day get-together was to do a "comprehensive evaluation" of progress for the September meeting. To this effect, Matsepe-Casaburri said the government will develop a scorecard with performance indicators, to be tabled in September. Two follow-up committees would also be established, "because follow-up isn't always as rapid as we want".
The minister attributed this to the routine obligations of the government functionaries - such as directors-general - responsible for implementing decisions. She said her department could obtain sufficient money in its budget to create committees of full-time staff, "unencumbered by other obligations", to carry out the recommendations of the council.
Among these recommendations have been the annual repetition of recommendations to liberalise the telecommunications market structure, and in particular of the need to bring down the high cost of telecommunications. Digital migration of the broadcasting sector, developing broadband infrastructure, using ICT to improve delivery of healthcare, accelerating the issuing of new telecoms licences, and small-business development have all been raised by the council over the years.
Where's the proof?
Implementation of the council's resolutions has been inconsistent, however, and it is unclear whether much progress has been made.
Ivo Vegter, contributor, ITWeb
Specific performance indicators were not disclosed, but council member Rajendra Pawar, chairman of NIIT, an Indian technology training organisation, cited wholesale prices resulting from Neotel's introduction into the market as an example.
"We've been told they are coming down," he said, "but by September, we want to see the numbers put on a chart, as proof of progress."
Pawar was complimentary about the level of commitment: "I'm involved with a few similar bodies in other countries, and I'm impressed with the seriousness here. The task is complex, it is inter-departmental, it cuts across different sectors, but there's a remarkable amount of work being done in paperwork and policy formulation. Are we frustrated? Frustration is the wrong word, but anxiety is correct. In the early years it was about policy, but now we're interested in tracking outcomes more."
Underscoring this perception of seriousness was the size of the South African contingent at the meeting. Present in the opulent surroundings of the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria were Mbeki himself, deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and the top echelon of the Department of Communications, including deputy minister Radakrishna Padayachie and director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole.
Esther Dyson, who has been a member of the council since its inception, added: "One thing we want to do is leave some achievements and learn from some of our failings. One of those is failing to set firm deadlines. Now we have our own deadline coming up, the last meeting in September, and want to leave a legacy and lessons for the future."
Making haste?
Are we frustrated? Frustration is the wrong word, but anxiety is correct.
Rajenra Pawar, PIAC member and chairman, NIIT
While Matsepe-Casaburri talked of "doing things faster and in an unusual way," the council did not discuss specific points of progress, or lack thereof. A question on the council's views on the Nepad Uhurunet and Broadband Infraco undersea cables and their impact on private-sector cables such as those being laid by Seacom and Eassy, was rebuffed with a blunt statement: "We had no specific discussions on cables."
Deputy minister Padayachie told ITWeb that Cabinet has to decide on the government's involvement in Uhurunet, and whether to merge Broadband Infraco's project with it. To explain his view on whether such public-sector projects might not discourage private-sector competition, he said: "More private sector involvement will bring costs down, but we don't need a single model."
He added that there were public-private partnership opportunities in Infraco, saying that in future, privatisation of such a cable would not be out of the question.
Spectrum allocation likewise was not discussed, neither was licensing, and neither was the potential for open source software in driving skills development, country competitiveness and access to ICT.
Padayachie said only that digital migration will free up a lot of spectrum, but on its management deferred to the ANC's resolutions at its Polokwane Conference, on the principles for managing a licensed public asset.
On telecoms licences, the conversion of which should have been completed within two years of the promulgation of the 2005 Electronic Communications Act, but which ICASA warned will probably not be completed even by the new deadline of July this year, Padayachie simply noted that this had been raised in the parliamentary portfolio committee. It was "dissatisfied" with progress, he said.
"The major thing [that emerged from the meeting] is the scorecard, so we can establish actual implementation and delivery targets and the institutions needed to achieve these," he said.
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