Govt commits to full use of technology

GOVERNMENT is committed to working with all stakeholders in the ICT sector to ensure full use of technology and a level playing field, Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said yesterday.

Officiating at the first edition of the Zimbabwe Domain Name Systems Forum, which ran under the theme, “Towards the implementation of a multi-stakeholder sustainable structure for Domain Name Systems in Zimbabwe”, Dr Muswere said technology remained critical to the realisation of an upper middle income economy by 2030.

The Domain Name System ( DNS) is the internet’s system for mapping alphabetic names to numeric Internet Protocol addresses.

For example, we can have www.example. co.zw. The domain name is example.co.zw. But the system is one that will find the correct host, which has a long unique string of numbers identifying it, when anyone types in example.co.zw.

“Government is committed to working with stakeholders in the ICT sector to ensure the full use of technology in the attainment Vision 2030. We believe this Forum can make a significant impact on advancing the domain name infrastructure and industry, which is critical to the internet and its growth.

“Our mandate as a Government is to connect the unconnected and ensure that everyone and everywhere has access to the internet. I challenge the management committee that will be selected to develop DNS in Zimbabwe to ensure that we promote internet for development and contribute towards Vision 2030,” said Minister Muswere.

DNS is expected to play an important role in combating cybercrime, which has become a menace across the country and the globe.

Government will work with stakeholders to implement DNS policies to ensure a level playing field for all stakeholders.

This will also improve on recommendations to fight cybercrime as you are aware that due to the new normal the digital space has become the driver of social, economic and political development,” said Dr Muswere.

Government is working to implement the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill to ensure that internet use and users are governed by legislation that is line with the times.

Privacy, surveillance and security remain important for internet users and that through multi-stakeholder engagement, Zimbabwe will attain the best policies to ensure the internet ecosystem develops.

Last week, Bindura University of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor Professor Eddie Mwenje said technology was the way to go and any organisation that does not adapt, runs the risk of failure.

He said since the world was changing, those redundant will be flushed out either by technology or by lack of digital skills.