Forum coordinates govt ICT initiatives

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 13 Dec 2006

Government has set up a structure that will be responsible for the implementation of national ICT policy and legislation in provinces, and align all its ICT activities across its departments and at national, provincial and local levels.

The forum, formed in line with the Information Society and Development Inter-Governmental Relations (ISAD IGR) Framework Act of 2005, is made up of 22 permanent members. It is chaired by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, with deputy minister of communications Roy Padayachie as deputy chairman.

The Act also states members of the forum include two MECs that deal with economic affairs and social development from the nine provinces.

Speaking at the first meeting of the ISAD IGR Forum, in Kempton Park, yesterday, Matsepe-Casaburri said the aim is to ensure all three spheres of government can provide input as to how ICT can be used to improve the living conditions of South African citizens and meet 2014 development goals.

She noted the activities government engages in to fulfil its 2010 FIFA guarantees will also play a key role in the fulfilment of 2014 development goals.

"We need to leverage what we need to do to fulfil our 2010 World Cup soccer tournament guarantees to help us push our 2014 agenda."

Part of this leveraging process includes working with municipalities and traditional leaders to ensure activities are coordinated towards a common goal, Matsepe-Casaburri explained.

Implementation programme

Mokwining Nhlapo, deputy chairman of the technical support committee, responsible for processing the forum's decisions, says the ISAD IGR implementation plan for 2007 has been completed.

The plan includes developing the national electronic health register, which will help create interoperability of health ICT systems across provinces, he says. The ISAD IGR will also begin the implementation of the e-education policy and evaluate phase one of the national e-government programme.

Nhlapo notes local ICT forums would also be established to ensure local government structure is not left behind while national government implements e-government initiatives.

An e-barometer that will be used to measure SA's ICT readiness has been developed and will be finalised in 2007, he says. Nhlapo adds that government would also consider releasing an annual e-readiness country report that is similar to the World Economic Forum's Networked Readiness Index.