Zim creating pathway for a knowledge economy
LAST Thursday, President Mnangagwa launched three ICT policies — the reviewed National ICT Policy, the Smart Zimbabwe 2030 Master Plan and the National Broadband Plan — at Somabhula Secondary School in Vungu area, just outside Gweru.
On the same day and at the same occasion, the President also commissioned the second phase of the fibre optic backbone network being spearheaded by the Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS) Group Limited in Africa.
While many could have viewed this event as just one of the many projects commissioned by the President in the New Dispensation, this one’s significance in the broader economic transformation of the country is massive in that it represented the laying out of the pathway to what is called a knowledge economy.
A knowledge economy is the one in which growth is dependent on the quantity, quality and accessibility of the information, rather than the means of production.
It is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge intensive activities that contribute to the advancement in technical and scientific innovations.
Since the advent of the New Dispensation, President Mnangagwa has been pushing for a knowledge economy.
His focus on a knowledge economy has seen the transformation of the education sector to a one whose primary focus is on technical skills, innovation and the production of goods and services in demand by industry and ordinary citizens.
The Mutare Medical Oxygen Plant and the Marula Processing and Value Addition Plant are just a few of the many examples of the fruits of a knowledge economy taking shape in the country.
The President’s push for a knowledge economy has resulted in many universities setting up innovation hubs that are becoming havens for inventions and production of goods and services.
President Mnangagwa’s emphasis on a knowledge economy is informed by the awareness of the fact that in the last decades, Africa has progressively been witnessing development in various sectors in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by member states in 2015.
In endeavouring to attain the SDGs, technology has been at the centre of enabling innovations, revolutionising trade and socio-economic activity, education, health, industry and many other sectors.
Technology has indeed been the enabling force in helping to solve an innumerable of challenges. Our private and commercial daily lives have been transformed by technology more than at any other period in the history of mankind.
The commissioning of the fibre optic by President Mnangagwa is therefore part of a process to create a knowledge economy by making sure that a large number of citizens have access to the internet.
The rolling out of the fibre optic is part of an initiative by Zimbabwe to bridge the yawning “digital divide” between developing nations and developed countries.
It is an initiative born out of the realisation of the need to bring the “offline” section of the population to mainstream participation in the economic, political and social realms of the country.
After ensuring connectivity of citizens, the next step would be to address the issue of affordability in accessing the internet.
Digital divide in many developing countries is real, especially among people on the lower end of the economic spectrum who find it hard to afford either a laptop or a smartphone.
Zimbabwe is, however, in the top league of African countries with the highest mobile penetration.
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) says the country has reached a high of 97,5 percent.
Zimbabwe’s mobile phone penetration augurs well with the African Union’s (AU) adoption of the Digital Transformation Strategy aimed at easing the digital divide and ensuring internet access for every person on the continent by 2030.
Zimbabwe, like many African countries, is embracing ICT in service delivery, promoting quality education, boosting economic activities and in the process positioning it to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Leading the way in Zimbabwe is the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage which has already started implementing a Digital Integrated System, which has made it easier and faster for citizens to access services online.
The system was approved by Government as a measure to enhance service delivery by electronically linking various departments including the Civil Registry, Immigration and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) refers to the present-day era of connectivity, advanced analytics, automation and advanced manufacturing technology that has been transforming global business for years.
The revolution is expected to bring about the change in the cost of transacting, create potential for economies of scale, market competition and enhance the speed of innovation. Remodelling of the education system through promotion of science and technology studies and hands on training to spur innovations need to be undertaken.
In an article published by several publications on January 14, 2016, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab declared that the world was standing on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another.
“We do not know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholder of the global polity, from public and private sectors to academia and civil society.”
It seems we are now living in that era where if one fails to embrace technology, he/she becomes redundant and maladjusted in a society now largely dependent on mediated knowledge.
The first revolution used water and steam power to mechanise production.
The second used electronic power to create mass production. The third used electronics and information to automate production and now the fourth is building on the third’s digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century.
It is composed of a fusion of technologies that are blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.
In the fourth revolution, everyone has to grapple with technologies that permeate all realms of human existence, including achieving sustainable development.
It is thus imperative that countries like Zimbabwe embrace technology in all socio-economic contexts and build knowledge economies.
This calls for drastic reduction of any inefficiencies and brings into the fore novel technologies to attain an Upper Middle Income economy by 2030.
Digital divide in many developing countries is real, especially among people on the lower end of the economic spectrum who find it hard to afford either a laptop or a smartphone