State’s ICT plan may benefit small business
Small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) will be the major beneficiaries of government’s ambitious ICT road map that seeks to digitise most public services.
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has called for input on the national e-strategy, e-government and ICT SMME support strategies.
The strategy was aimed at unlocking business opportunities and creating an enabling business and administrative environment for SMMEs in the ICT sector, department spokesman Siya Qoza said.
According to the national estrategy published in the Government Gazette, the plan will support South African industries and in particular SMMEs and identify for them opportunities in the government procurement of hardware, software and applications. Government will prioritise collaboration with local companies in the procurement and use of technology.
“The need to develop the SMME sector in South Africa has been accepted by government as a requirement to achieve higher economic growth targets,” the e-strategy document reads.
“Government programmes like the e-government and broadband roll-out should form a part of the means to grow the demand for SMME goods and services.”
The broadband networks and services coupled with the egovernment services will provide an opportunity to engage with the SMME sector in the manufacturing of end-user equipment for use as part of government services.
The e-government strategy will define the parameters and forward-looking strategies for the use of ICT in a government environment to deliver better services. To date, noteworthy egovernment services the administration has introduced include the Treasury’s e-Tender Publication portal, a central supplier database, e-Home Affairs and the South African Revenue Service’s e-Filing.
According to the national estrategy document, a lack of universal access to the broadband and internet infrastructure across the three tiers of government, with access heavily skewed towards urban areas, remains a major challenge. However, the fundamental question posed by the development of the national e-strategy “has not been whether South Africa possesses the latest technologies or data speeds comparable to other countries but rather how can South Africa use the latest technologies and the fastest data speeds to usher in a period of sustained economic, social and political development”, the document notes.