Government is working on policies that will ensure improvement in the use of technology in service delivery, particularly in the health sector and government departments, a senior official in the Information Communication Technology and Cyber Security ministry has said.
BY PRECIOUS CHIDA
Speaking on the sidelines of the telecommunication symposium at the University of Zimbabwe on Wednesday, deputy director in the ministry, James Madya said there was need to develop flexible policies that respond to the technological changes on a regular basis.
He said the ministry was already working on new policies among them, the child online protection policy, e-west government and handling policy and the e-health strategy policy.
“The implementation of e-government, e-health, e-commerce and other online transactions will improve service delivery and, therefore, a co-ordinated roll out of ICTs promises a realistic opportunity to bridge the digital divide and help deal with the inequalities and unequal services in the country,” Madya said.
He said government should review policies that hinder convergence to enable and drive the uptake of new technologies.
“Further disruptive technological changes also known as emerging technologies, are in the horizon, review timelines on approval of policies needs to be shorter so that we can have flexible policies that respond to these technological changes,” Madya said.
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), director of legal services, Cecilia Nyamutswa said the dynamic nature of the telecommunications sector required regulators to work together
“Convergence makes it difficult for Potraz alone to handle regulatory issues in the sector, therefore, the telecommunications sector cannot be regulated only by one regulator due to the dynamic nature of the sector,” she said.
“Stakeholders should, therefore, do more than criticise our laws, but help Potraz build and streamline the laws to make our sector efficient and inclusive.”
