Speech by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Hon. Prof. Hlengiwe Mkhize during the occasion of Women & ICT Empowerment Workshop, Banquet Hall, Civic Centre, Germiston
Introduction
Let me first start by congratulating the Ekurhuleni Office of the Speaker for organising this event on a very important subject of empowerment of women in the ICT sector. It is indeed befitting at this juncture wherein we are not only celebrating women’s month but also looking at the achievements gained since the attainment of our democracy, to talk about women empowerment in a sector as vital as the ICT Sector. ICT is truly a liberator for women as they can access services or run their business whilst holding children at their backs.
Effective service delivery and women inclusion in the ICT sector has been the agenda of the democratic government since its inception. We recall the sterling work done by heroines such as the former Minister of the Department of Communications, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. In every board that she has been part of she always advocated for gender parity. The commitments she has made in the ICT sector talk to concrete commitments of the democratic government. However, there is still more work that needs to be done in terms of promoting the ICT sector to women whether employed or unemployed, especially those in townships and rural areas.
It is almost six decades since the 9 August 1956 march to protest against the infamous pass law. We celebrate this women’s month commemorating with honour and pride remarkable patriots such as Charlotte Maxeke, who fearlessly led the 1913 Women`s March. We also commemorate heroines such as Bertha Gxowa for being an anchor of service delivery especially in this area of Ekurhuleni.
South African broadband footprint
South Africa is connected to the rest of the world through five submarine cables – Wacs, Seacom, Sat-3, Safe, and Eassy. In order to bring connectivity to people across South Africa, the Internet traffic must be carried from the submarine landing stations which are at Mtunzini in KwaZulu-Natal, Melkbosstrand and Yzerfontein close to Cape Town. To implement this, National fibre networks are necessary. According to a study conducted by the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Telkom has the largest national fibre network and as result offers connectivity to most areas in the country. Other national fibre players include Neotel, Broadband Infraco, Fibreco, DFA, Sanren, Vodacom and MTN. All this connectivity brings about e-dividends for our municipalities. The technology follows the connectivity will in many ways help us to improve service delivery.
Government Policy Pillars
National Broadband Policy – South Africa Connect
During the State of the Nation Address this year, one of the bold statements which the president made was a commitment to expand, modernise and increase the affordability of information and communications infrastructure and electronic communication services, including broadband and digital broadcasting. A strategic government response to this commitment is the “South Africa Connect”, which is our Broadband Policy and Strategy, adopted by cabinet in December 2013. This Policy came as breakthrough for the challenge of the digital divide which we have experienced for quite some time. As the ground work has already started, we will ensure that all the gaps are closed.
On the second State of the Nation Address, our honourable President Jacob Zuma made yet another bold statement when he said: “The year 2015 will mark the beginning of the first phase of broadband roll-out. Government will connect offices in eight district municipalities. These are Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in North West, Gert Sibande in Mpumalanga, O.R. Tambo in the Eastern Cape, Pixley ka Seme in the Northern Cape, Thabo Mofutsanyane in the Free State, Umgungundlovu and Umzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Vhembe in Limpopo.”
We have since gone out of our comfort zones and we are going around the country, especially in the identified districts ensuring that they are connected. A number of schools have been connected and the understanding is that when we connect a school, we connect a community. We have set out plans for the implementation of digital opportunities programmes in the NHI pilot sites to ensure that residents in these areas are able to benefit from the rollout of broadband infrastructure.
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment
The department is involved in the establishment and operationalisation of the ICT BBBEE Council which is aimed at driving the broad transformation agenda in the ICT sector. The revised BBBEE codes of good conduct are no longer only about including black people but has been strategically made to emphasise the inclusion of women and women should take full advantage of this.
The adoption of ICT services in South Africa
The ICT sector has been a game changer in our economy. The current mobile penetration rate in South Africa is well above 104%, and the sector makes a stunning contribution to our Gross Domestic Product.
South Africa is making progress in the adoption and use of Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) to improve the quality of life of our people. Through the use of technology our government is committed to play a strategic role to also improve the quality of education in primary and tertiary education system. This is mainly done through working together with other structures of government and departments such as the Department of Basic Education, and with other Ministers in the Presidential Integrated Coordinating Commission.
e-Government
The President has instructed our Department to ensure that the automation of online government services became a reality during this term of our democratic government administration. We are also coordinating our efforts within government to support affected Departments; Provinces and Local administration with this online services to our communities and citizens; to businesses; and within the government system. Our entity, SITA is charged with a responsibility to champion the implementation of the e-government programme so that our people can see tangible improvement in their daily lives.
In addition, the NDP acknowledges that ICT is central to the delivery of lower cost, high quality public services. Government (National, Provincial and Local) needs ICT to be more efficient, and save costs of delivering services to our people.
We are also calling on the Provincial and Local Government Administration to work with us in the Strategic Integrated Project 15 to ensure planning and deployment of broadband infrastructure in the country. Our Department is coordinating all the information about broadband activities in the country. Our infrastructure deployment must ensure efficiency, interoperability of networks, and information systems.
Working side to side with social partners and the private sector, through what we term smart partnerships, we have an opportunity to enhance our connectivity efforts, skill our citizens and consolidate on e-government and the related e-strategies. e-Services are based on realising the objectives of the Broadband Policy. The policy rests upon four strategic pillars, which are: digital readiness, digital development, digital future and digital opportunity.
Some of the objectives that we aim to achieve include:
- Developing a comprehensive Digital Entrepreneurship programme aimed at supporting all businesses to embrace digital technologies and exploiting social media.
- Local manufacturing (identifying niche areas and providing support measures for these enterprises).
- Opportunities will be created for young people to innovate. This will ensure uptake and usage of the ICT services.
Making use of ICTs for underserviced poor communities
Making use of the former Thusong Centers Model, the Department will in partnership with the municipalities, other social partners and participating companies in the broadband roll-out, create localised ICT Hubs for coordination and integration of the last mile connectivity. Within these localized ICT Hubs the Department will focus on the improvement of e-literacy (e-Skills), e-enterprise development, youth inclusion and local economic empowerment. All these will be done with a view that jobs for the future will be ICT informed.
Within these localised ICT Hubs, our partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, through their agency the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is critical. The CSIR is the anchor to these localised ICT Hubs and have an active role to play in the areas of preparing our poor communities for the digital future as well as Research, Development and Innovation.
Making use of ICTs for women empowerment
ICT is an essential tool for the social and economic development of women and girls. Technology can be used to provide education as well as jobs, literacy and life skills training. ICT allows female learners to discover educational opportunities, improve academic performance, and prepare them to fill the jobs of today and tomorrow. These goals highlight education as a community asset that can benefit from readily available technology.
The techno-girl programme
The value of programmes such as the Techno-Girls where the participation of girls in careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths increased and enhanced cannot be underestimated; it is more important to have the right education for technology. The use of ICT to enhance learning should be at all stages of our education system starting from preschool. This can only be achieved if women are actively involved giving full support to their children, especially girl children.
The Techno Girl Programme, is a project through which the Department supports the STEM initiative which focuses on promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. Through this programme, female learners in Grade 9 to Grade 11 are placed in companies and organisations for job shadowing for a period of three years specifically in the Technology and Science environment and the Department has been supporting the program since 2012 and it has also encouraged its SOCs to participate in the program. The programme encourages girls to be Tech women of the future as they learn and be exposed to what the department is doing in terms of ensuring the implementation of ICT projects in the country.
Women ICT SMME development
One of the key economic priorities of government is industrialisation. Manufacturing can also be enhanced through the Industrial Development Zones. We are glad that one of the IDZs is going to be strictly dedicated to ICTs. We are taking bold steps towards radical economic transformation. As we speak, our government is targeting to create hundred black industrialists in the next three years, who will participate in the productive sectors of the economy.
SMMEs can be developed through partnering with our SOCs and making use of their Enterprise Development Units.
e-Learning
Through the license obligations, we will encourage our private sector partners to train women mostly in rural areas to equip them with ICT skills. These skills are more critical and are needed for future jobs. If as women you can mobilise and organise yourselves into balanced groups whereby you can learn from each other, there is nothing stopping government from providing you with ICT training.
e-Commerce
Government’s view of e-commerce is that it brings with it benefits such as new job creation in the ICT sector, related to software development, information technology (IT) consultancy services and web hosting. For those enterprises that become more successful as a result of expanded online sales, they will then be able to break into foreign markets and connect with international supply chains, and add competitive pressure in the economy. Other important aspects of e-commerce services include e-agriculture and e-money which in most cases tend to benefit the majority of women. All these talk to entrepreneurial activities which women must take advantage of.
e-Health
e-Health is a central core of our e-Government strategy. With this strategy, main aim is to develop a more equitable and accessible healthcare system in South Africa, and ICT gives us the opportunity to implement our broadband application through our National Health Insurance (NHI) priority sites. The 8 pilot sites identified for National Health Insurance provides government with the opportunity to deliver health information timeously, promote public health services and improve interaction between health professionals, institutions and the public.
There is also work undertaken in hospitals falling under e-Administration whereby patients information is stored in a digital format, then consolidated to have a unified patient record. All this work makes taking care of children a whole lot easier.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to encourage all women in business to take advantage of the available opportunities currently available in the ICT sector. We cannot as women turn a blind eye on a project of significant importance such as digital migration.
Whilst we are glad that this project will provide us with better coverage in most remote rural areas, we need to also acknowledge the opportunities that accompanies it such as installations, repairs and manufacturing. With all that said I would like to encourage you to organise yourselves and work as cooperatives because “Kopano Ke Maatla”.
I thank you!
