I Matsepe-Casaburri: Information Society and Development (ISAD)
Inter-Governmental Relations Forum (IGRF)

11 May 2007

Distinguished Colleagues, members of the IGRF
Invited observers

Let me start by thanking you for your personal attendance to this, our
second meeting. I am aware of how busy your schedules are. I would also like to
thank colleagues from our host province, the Free State. It should be noted
that the First Deputy Chairperson, Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, intended
to be here. She however sent her apologies due to issues she needs to attend to
relating the public service strike. She did however indicate that she would
send a representative. I also wish to inform members that as agreed at the last
meeting the Second Chairperson, Deputy Minister Padayachie and I started with
the visits to the provincial Cabinets.

I had good meetings in the Western Cape and here in the Free State. The
Deputy Minister made presentations to Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. In the
Programme of Action that was presented to the Forum at its inaugural meeting,
we talked about several items. This year started on a high note for the
development of the Information Society in our country and continent. The
Cabinet made a number of major and historic decisions that are bound to put our
country on a new trajectory.

The Cabinet approved as the country's vision "the establishment of South
Africa as an advanced information society in which information and Information
and Communication Technology tools are key drivers of economic and societal
development."

The Information Society and Development (ISAD) Plan that was presented to
and approved by this Forum in our inaugural meeting was adopted by the Cabinet
as the Framework for building the Information Society in South Africa. The
Cabinet also approved the establishment of the Ministerial ISAD Committee and
its corresponding Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD) ISAD
Cluster. The ISAD IGRF and the Ministerial ISAD Committee were approved as the
national Institutional Mechanisms for building an inclusive Information Society
in South Africa.

My Director-General has already convened the meeting of core departments
that will develop the Plan of Action for the ISAD cluster. The essence of that
plan will be presented to this meeting for consultations. The FOSAD ISAD
cluster will be meeting in this month to discuss the draft Programme of Action
(POA) for submission to the Ministerial ISAD Committee for consideration before
the July Lekgotla.

The items in the POA that are most relevant to provincial and local spheres
of government such as education and health will benefit greatly from the input
of the Forum. Some of these may be implemented in this year but others would be
developed further for consideration into the next Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) period. A presentation on some of the items in the POA that
will be discussed in the FOSAD ISAD Cluster will be presented in this meeting
to facilitate discussion.

In the last meeting we also referred briefly to the migration of our
broadcasting services from analogue to digital. The Cabinet also took some
decisions on this important matter. It approved four issues:

That the switch on of the digital signal and switch off of the analogue one
be on the 1st of November of 2008 and 2011 respectively. This will provide for
three years in which both signals will be switched on, what is called "dual
illumination." The implications for this must be carefully planned for and
communicated to our people.

The Cabinet also approved that sufficient frequency spectrum be retained to
provide new broadcasting channels. Today the world television services are
relayed on an analogue platform. Due to technological advancement, this is set
to change. Analogue signals, which use up a lot of frequency spectrum, will now
be replaced by digital ones. This will free up enough frequency spectrum to
provide for new television (TV) channels that could be used for specialised
e.g. education, health, youth etc. Given the vast variety of types of local
content such as music, film, news etc there are a lot of job opportunities that
present themselves. We will need to look at what projects are possible and
where these could be.

In its declaration, the World Summit on the Information Society identified
the development, preservation, promotion of indigenous knowledge as crucial for
the development of an Information Society that is truly inclusive. We have
proposed to give some time for discussion of this matter given its impact on
our priority of building national identity and social cohesion.

As members of the Forum would know, South Africa and Australia are the two
countries left in the bid to host the giant telescope called the Square
Kilometre Array (SKA). This important scientific project requires not only a
lot of frequency spectrum but also a big "quiet zone" area to eliminate
interference. This is why, like other similar projects such as the South
African Large Telescope (SALT), it would be located in the Northern Cape. The
Cabinet approved that the Minister of Science and Technology and I should
discuss the impact of the migration on the SKA. This matter is important
because providing for a "quiet zone" from an Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) perspective means that there can be no television, radio or
telephone services in the areas around the SKA. It will therefore need a lot of
discussion on our part. A ful cost implementation plan should be developed and
presented to the Cabinet.

I propose that in our future meetings we spend some time on the hosting of
the 2010 FIFA World Cup. One the other hand, every stadium will have a media
centre which will be well equipped with modern technologies and is likely to be
used to full capacity again after the World Cup. There are a lot of
opportunities to develop legacy projects and programmes around this.
Information Communication Technologies can enable us to build a lasting legacy
related to 2010 even in areas that are not hosting the event such as the
Northern Cape.

The shortage of ICT skills in our economy is another topic that I propose to
the Forum for future consideration. We are looking at a number of possible
interventions, including the establishment of an e-skills council.

In conclusion, I am happy to announce that our country joined seven other
African countries when the President launched our New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD) e-schools demo project at Maripe Senior Secondary School in
Mpumalanga last month. This initiative is not just about putting ICTs in
schools. It is about building our future generation of leaders of our continent
with principles that affirm our resoluteness at being equals in this world. In
addition to the launch school I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate
the following schools, Lomahasha (Mpumalanga), Hendrick Makapan (North West),
Isiphosethu (KwaZulu-Natal), Thozamisa (Eastern Cape), Ipetleng Petrusburg
(Free State) secondary schools that are part of this historic initiative.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Communications
11 May 2007