(Liberty Chirove) Zimbabwe is noted to be lagging behind in the use of ICTs in the world. Available resources are not being fully utilised towards the development of the country with locals sticking to the ‘traditional business mode’.

E-Knowledge for Women in Southern Africa (EKOWISA) has arranged fresh discussions, idea exchange and sharing on how Zimbabwe can forge ahead in the development of ICTs for national development.

In this respect, EKOWISA invites stakeholders and concerned parties to participate in the forth coming multistakeholder meeting focusing on ICT policy implementation; the initial steps.

“Since the launch of the ICT Policy Framework Document we now have an opportunity to strategize and envision together.”

“Your participation may be electronic through this discussion group or you could come to the Harare venue of the meeting,” says EKOWISA Executive Director and Policy D-Group Administrator, Margaret Zunguze, .

According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Zimbabwe has 1,000,000 internet users as of June 2007, representing 8.1 percent of the population.

In the year 2000, there were 50,000 users- a percentage of 0.3. In 2002, there were 500,000 users, a 3.6 percent increase and by 2005 there were 820,000 users signifying a 6.7 percent increase.

“The meeting will receive presentations from major players in the local ICT industry such as policy makers, business, academia, and civil society who will share what they see as the major strategies to take as Zimbabwe prepares to transform itself into an effective information and knowledge based society,” said the organisation.

At late last year’s dialogue on the Role of ICTs in Tourism Development, it emerged that only 6.3 percent of Zimbabweans have access to computers whilst 80 percent of the fibre network available is not being utilized.

Zunguze indicates it is important to take this opportunity to share ideas and draft the beginnings of an implementation framework based on locals’ needs, desires and expectations.

“The dates of the multistakeholder meeting will be shared shortly; but currently, contributions on what you consider to be the major issues to be addressed by an implementation framework are welcome. What examples of effective ICT implementation frameworks can we learn from? There is no need to reinvent the wheel,” she concluded.

An international survey shows that there is no African country among the leading nations in ICT use.  European countries such as Iceland and Netherlands top the list in leading the ICT usage race.