The Sunday News
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Business Correspondent
THE slow uptake of skills in the Information, Communication Technology disciplines has led to a worrisome trend where the local industry is experiencing low investment in digital connectivity, a Cabinet Minister has said.
ICTs were seen as a conduit for the country to achieve Vision 2030 as Government pushes for the adoption of new technologies in industry.
Technology, over the past months shifted the way business is done globally as the Covid-19 pandemic presented the cyber space as the only viable means to trade. The local industry was not spared.
Failure to invest in skills attainment was a causal factor in companies being reluctant to consider digital technologies. The Government, through the Ministry of Information Communication Technologies, Postal and Courier Services embarked on a drive to upscale the use of digital ware, having noted the disastrous effect of the slow business trade that companies were faced with, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
Some companies have long closed shop citing viability challenges, closure of source markets for raw materials and exports.
The sluggish approach to the new norm that demanded an intense use of ICTs, meant that workers had to be forced to go on leave, with a record number losing their jobs, a report by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) on the impact of Covid-19 stated.
But what worries the Government most is the low uptake to acquire digital skills by labour and businesses. Shortage of manpower with requisite ICT know-how was linked to low investment drive according to the Minister of Information, Communication, Technology, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere.
“The key challenges facing the ICT sector in Zimbabwe and many other countries, is the low investment in ICT technologies and the lack of a large pool of skilled ICT professionals,” he said.
Dr Muswere said this while delivering an address on the launch of the Huawei Technologies’ Seeds for the Future programme on Thursday last week.
Seeds for the Future is a joint initiative between the Government, it’s fixed telephone line and broadband provider TelOne and Huawei Technologies to promote skills development in ICTs. The programme is Huawei’s corporate social responsibility programme intended to build capacity and enhance technical skills transfer to local students. Ten students from Zimbabwe’s universities were to travel to China for a hands-on ICT studies but will have to settle for online classes owing to Covid-19. The public-private sector partnership in ICT infrastructure and manpower development has so far yielded results in a short time.
“It is the duty of all ICT players from Government to the private sector to ensure that all Zimbabweans benefit from the opportunities that connectivity brings. It is therefore pleasing to note that supporting skills development is one of Huawei’s key priorities for building a better-connected Zimbabwe.”
Dr Muswere said ICTs were a key driver for inclusive, sustainable socio-economic development. He said the Seeds for the Future programme dovetailed with the Government’s digitisation plan.
“The Huawei Technologies’ Seeds for the Future programme is in line with our digitisation strategy. It helps cultivate and pool together ICT professionals and students that are crucial to industry development, thus boosting ICT industry growth, driving the development of different sectors and contributing to the labour market.”
Huawei Technologies, through its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, the Huawei ICT Talent Ecosystem, is providing a wide range of high-quality ICT online courses for free during the pandemic to ensure that instructors of Huawei ICT Academies and students have the opportunity to continue getting exposure to the latest ICT technologies.
However, the lack of ICT skills has not dampened the Government’s spirit of revamping industry as Minister Muswere said the unprecedented circumstances induced by the Covid-19 pandemic have seen an accelerated demand and uptake of ICT-based solutions.
He said post-Covid-19, the Government would continue to invest in a full-scale digital infrastructure as spelt out in the Smart Zimbabwe Master Plan and Digital Infrastructure Masterplan. An ICT engineer based in Bulawayo, Mr Cleopas Munhemo told Sunday Business that when the Covid-19 has gone down, as expected, migrating to digital connectivity is the only route that businesses can take to in order to survive.
“The period after Covid-19 presents an opportunity that is clear for all, one that will demand the compulsory use of ICTs. The industry has to plan for new technological innovations and solutions compatible with each sector in the country’s economy.
“All business footprints will be etched by technology, meaning that ICTs will be an unavoidable necessity, “ said Mr Munhemo.
Of late, new developments, that local industry can tap into include the 5G mobile technology, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, and Cloud Computing. The use of ICTs will be greatly emphasised not only in business but in schools and health centres. Following the subsequent Covid-19 lockdowns, educational institutions were closed, prompting the use of the virtual space for teaching lessons. Meetings and business transactions have all shifted to cyber space as well.
