3 main goals of ICT

There are various reasons behind the lack of development in a nation. Some of these are policy constraints, poor regulatory mechanisms, conflict of interest between the various departments and weak institutional structure. All these are national level issues and contributes to the slow growth of the nation. In spite of all these problems, ICT can have a significant impact. Here are the three main goals of ICT:

1. Productivity: To have a significant impact on the small and medium-sized enterprises; to support E-Governance and to promote research relating to ICT.

2. Connectivity: To improve the mobile and connectivity infrastructure so that small and medium-sized enterprises can communicate effectively; to make sure that households and schools have access to good communication facilities and also to increase the economic participation.

3. ICT Skills: There is a large demand for skilled labor in the ICT sector. One of the main objectives is to meet the increased demand for labor and to make sure that every school has online training facilities.

Apart from that, we strongly believe that ICT can play a significant role in the progress of township economy and also in meeting the development objectives of the Government. If you look at the interventions relating to the township economy, you will notice that they are quite similar to Gauteng ICT strategy. One of the most important thing is skill development. Through TNSC ICT Support, talent needs to be spotted who can help in the revitalization projects of township economy and also share information about the various existing government projects.

Everyone agreed that it was important to have more skilled people in the technology space and tech skills should be imparted at all educational levels. However, just mentioning that skills need to be imparted is not going to help. There should be a proper national strategy to have more skilled people in this field. It is the responsibility of the government to collaborate with some of the leading schools and universities and figure out which are the most important skills which will help in the growth of ICT sector. After identification of the necessary skill sets, the government should implement a long-term strategy so that these skills can be imparted right from an early age. We should focus on the upcoming generation of students and make them technically competent right from their school days. In order to build a globally strong and competitive economy, ICT should be used as a differentiator.

However, apart from improving the skills in various fields such as cyber security and coding, the focus should be more on the development of innovative and unique thinking.

With each passing day, technology just keeps on growing and keeps on throwing unique challenges towards us. It is not always possible to better the ideas which were implemented before. Instead, we should try to come up with new solutions to address the various issues. Once we come up with various ideas, we need to figure out the ones which can be applied in reality. Hence, we need to create a generation of innovators and thinkers. And in order to do that, we need to create an education system which forces the students to think beyond their academic books.

It is very important that both the public sector and private sector join hands and ensure that no one is being left behind. It is very important to promote skills which are beyond the formal education system and to make sure that every school has access to virtual tools which will help in skill development. if there is an improvement in the small and medium-sized enterprises, then it will also result in the creation of more jobs.

This sector needs some regulation in order to work properly. However, in such a dynamic environment, regulation is a challenge. And there is always the question of who will regulate. There is a lot of debate regarding whether there should be self-regulation or whether the government should intervene.

Self-regulation is considered as the best form of regulation. However, since the interest of the entire population is at stake, there should be at least some level of government participation. Otherwise, the focus will be more on the development of the industry instead of the greater good. Coming to the regulation space, South Africa has a very crucial role to play in the global tech scenario.