Satellite deal for agric

Government has sealed a deal to access satellite data for use in the agriculture sector, Communications, Knowledge and Technology minister, Thulagano Segokgo has revealed. Speaking at the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited ShiftBW Summit on Wednesday, the minister said a contract was due to be signed which would give local farmers, particularly those in rural areas, access to “a large set” of satellite data that will enable them to enhance their activities. Segokgo added that through the Data Protection Act, whose grace period for enforcement is due next month, large sets of data from local entities which is currently resident in external repositories would be made available in-country. Segokgo said under the Act, all persons and entities dealing in personal data had to seek authority from the Data Commissioner to keep data sets outside the country. He said the movement of data sets in-country would stimulate the ICT industry through the development of data centres and associated infrastructure, as well as making this information readily available for participants in the local economy.