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Ruth Butaumocho African Agenda

The need to reclaim land that had been grabbed by white settlers triggered the liberation struggle, which led to the birth of Zimbabwe.

While the struggle was mainly about reclaiming the land, universal suffrage, particularly women, need for total independence, several other benefits were also attained from the protracted liberation struggle.

Coming from a sad trajectory of colonial bondage, Zimbabwe, which turns 40 on April 18, has come of age. The nation has every reason to celebrate looking at monumental achievements that Zimbabwe has attained across the spectrum.

While this year, the country will not hold the anticipated historic celebrations to mark the four decades of independent rule due to the Government’s decision to take a litany of preventative measures against coronavirus, multitudes of people can speak affirmatively on how the information communication technology has revolutionised lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.

With information and communication technologies (ICTs), proving to be the linchpin of economies across the globe, Zimbabwe has not been left out in the information age, where it has taken a progressive decision to ensure that the majority of people have access to internet, through the provision of adequate infrastructure to improve connectivity.

The digital age, which is also known as the new media age because of the diversity of information channels, is a historic period beginning in the 20th century that is characterised by the rapid shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought by ensuring that most if not all economic and social activities would be based on information technology.

Zimbabwe is also part of the global narrative through the use of information and communication technologies to enhance virtually all facets of the national economy, transcending every industry and service.

It is gratifying to note that Government has broad appreciation of the essential role of innovative ICTs in economic development, and has moved with haste to come up with a litany of measures to ensure ease of doing business in the sector.

Realising the importance of ICT, the Government identified information communication technology as one of the pillars instrumental in economic turnaround.

The sector proved to be important in stimulating and giving the necessary support to great projects needed to grow all sectors of the economy.

Government realised that people could not continue to live in the Stone Age Era, and needed to move with the times.

Digital Era was upon everyone.

Unlike yesteryear, when mankind had to beat the drum to alert the whole village of a pending event, or send a letter to communicate with a loved one living in a faraway place, that can now be done at the click of a button, thanks to technology and other innovations that have come along with it.

For decades, people would get together, collaborate through their church groups, share stories over coffee, over the backyard fence or worse still travel to relay important messages.

However, that is no longer the case, because information communication technology now allows people to communicate faster, better and with grandeur, should they choose to do so.

The information communication technology is not only limited to information exchange alone, but it has become a great asset in trade, diplomacy, education and enhancing the social well-being of people across.

Just the internet alone has proved to be a sophisticated multidisciplinary tool enabling individuals to create content, communicate with one another, and even escape reality.

To sustain this, both the Government and the private sector have invested massively in the infrastructure as well as different networks to ensure that people have access to internet and improved connectivity across the country.

Already great strides have been made through investments in ICT backbone infrastructure, education, research and development.

Expansion of communication information centres in all provinces, remains one of the strategic moves that the Government put in place so that people from disadvantaged communities can still access relevant information for their daily needs.

Some of the investments that Zimbabwe can proudly speak of include a terrestrial link and an optic fibre cable en-route to the undersea cable that goes as far as the Indian Ocean to ensure that Zimbabwe is in sync with global developments and is not left out on ICT developments.

The endeavours to power the nation with information communication technology are embedded in the country’s national policy on ICT to guide Zimbabwe’s economic development through a coordinated use of information communication technology.

It is gratifying to note that all these efforts are bearing fruit because information communication technology is fuelling majority of activities happening on the political, economic and social front. The recent innovation by the Harare Institution of Technology where they successfully made a ventilator is clear affirmation of how ICT has become instrumental in innovation.

However, despite the rudimentary changes that ICT has brought, it has not been without its challenges. The advent of fake news is the greatest demise the nation is currently faced with.

The quickest and easiest way would be to draft laws that help the nation deal with this problem.

The nation hopes that the Cyber Crimes, Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill have provisions, which once passed into law would be able to address challenges of fake news, cyber bullying and the general abuse of the internet by some malcontents bent on being on disrupting social, political and economic status quo.

Data would also need to be reasonably priced to ensure that the country continues on a positive trajectory of national development through the use of information communication technology.

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