DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government

5 June 2007Cape Town

2

OBJECTIVE

To brief the Portfolio Committee on the –

The development of the Information Society in South Africa

The Information Society and Development Inter-Governmental Relations Forum ISAD

IGRF) and

The draft ISAD Programme of Action

THE TEAM

Ms. Lyndall SHOPE-MAFOLE DG of DoC and CHAIRPERSON of

PNC on ISAD

Ms. Gerda Grabe COO& DDG G&A of DoC

Mr. Mokwining Nhlapo COO PNC on ISAD

Dr. Harold Wesso DDG ICT PD

Ms Mameetse Mphahlele CD DGO

INTRODUCTION

ICTs have been recognised as essential tools for developments for some years now

Te concept was formalised by the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 and 2005

Summit was historic because Heads of State adopted ICTs as socio-economic

development tools essential for meeting MDGs ICTs no longer a technical issue of one department or UN

Agency Governments, business and Civil Society leaders took

binding decisions under one roof at the same time in a UN Summit

BACKGROUND

South Africa long recognised importance of ICTs for development and the need to build an inclusive Information Society with a development agenda

In 1995 then Executive Deputy Presidet Mbeki address G7 Summit and invited the to SA

South Africa hosted the Information Society and Development (ISAD) Summit

2001 President established Presidential National Commission (PNC) on ISAD and the Presidential International Advisory Council (PIAC) on ISAD

President announces need for an ICT University

6

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE INFORMATION SOCIETY

In 2002 the PNC on ISAD noted that, in order to build an inclusive Information Society there was a need for –

an explicit, strategic national shared vision,

a clear, comprehensive, integrated and aligned framework and;

the institutional means to strategically co-ordinate the implementation of such a vision, to effectively monitor, evaluate its impact and review progress.

7

Research and stakeholder consultation revealed that a lack of coordination between different government initiatives offset the development of South Africa as an advanced Information Society;

PIAC recommended that government develop a national plan to rally the whole country;

World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) encourages countries to develop national plan and strategy

CONTEXTBuilding an inclusive Information Society

8

CONTEXT

In February 2007 Cabinet approved the

National Information Society and Development (ISAD) Plan as a framework for building an inclusive information society in South Africa.

The country’s vision for building an inclusive Information Society

The Institutional mechanisms for building the Information Society in South Africa

A Ministerial ISAD Committee, chaired by the Presidency, and its corresponding FOSAD ISAD Cluster

the Information Society and Development Intergovernmental Relations Forum (ISAD IGRF).

9

ISAD VISION

‘Establish

South Africa

as an advanced Information Society

in which ICTs tools and information

are key drivers of

economic and societal development’.

10

PROCESS OF ISAD PLAN DEVELOPMENT

The process of developing the ISAD Plan was started in 2004 with the establishment of the National Working Group (NWG)

This is a forum of representatives from national government departments, provincial and local governments (through SALGA)

The mandate of the NWG was to oversee the development of the ISAD Plan, and ensure that all the relevant stakeholders have a voice in the process

The process also included consultation with Local and International technical experts in the area of Information Society, expects from countries such as Finland ,Ireland, Mozambique, Malaysia, India and Brazil

Sectoral workshop for e-Education, e-Health, e-Government, SMMEs & ICTs and Local Content development were held

11

NATIONAL INFORMATION SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT

(ISAD) PLAN The National ISAD Plan aims to use ICTs accelerate the

realization of the national strategic goals as reflected in the 2004 Medium Term Strategic Framework.

The Plan rests on the following ten pillars:

Policy and Regulatory environment; ICT infrastructure and Universal Access; Local Content; Digital inclusion and e-Awareness; Human capital; ICT capacity development and R&D; Coordination and Integration; Funding; Institutional Mechanisms; and Measurement of the development of the Information Society

in South Africa.

Implementation of the ISAD Plan

Under the leadership of the PNC and with participation of relevant departments (DPLG, DPSA, DoC), provincial governments and SALGA, the implementation is driven at the following fora;

ISAD IGR Forum

National Working Group (NWG) task team on provincial ISAD model

Local government ICT Forum of GITOC

12

13

INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS

MINISTERIAL ISAD COMMITTEEChaired by the Presidency

FOSAD ISAD CLUSTER

Co-Chaired by DGs of Communications and Arts & Culture

ISAD IGRF

ISAD National Working Group

PNC SecretariatISAD IGRF Technical Support Committee

Presidential National Commission (with 15 part-

time Commissioners)

GITO Council

14

Ministerial ISAD Committee

The Ministerial ISAD Committee to be chaired by the Presidency

The Committee will meet twice a year to approve strategic ISAD issues for consideration by the January and July Lekgotla

Ministerial ISAD Committee will be supported by the FOSAD ISAD Cluster

15

FOSAD ISAD ClusterChaired by DGs of DOC and DAC

Government IT Officers Council (GITOC)

PNC on ISAD Secretariat

e-Govern-ment

SteeringCommitteeChaired by DG of the

DPSA

e-Health Steering

CommitteeChaired by DG of the

DoH

e-Education Steering

CommitteeChaired by DG of the

DoE

Local content

development SteeringCommittee Chaired by DG of the

DAC

ICT & SMMEs

Steering CommitteeChaired by DG of the

dti

e-Documen-

tation Steering

CommitteeChaired by DG of the

DHA

FOSAD ISAD Cluster

FOSAD ISAD Cluster (cont)

Purpose and Functions of the Cluster: To ensure that ICTs are used to improve and

increase service delivery; To participate in the formulation of the ISAD

Programme of Action (PoA) and to develop plans to deliver on the target set;

Coordinate, guide, advice, promote and evaluate the implementation of ISAD plan in various sectors;

Ensure that departments align their ICT activities with the ISAD plan;

Contribute content for discussion in the ISAD Cluster and submit projects/programmes for adoption by the ISAD Cluster

16

17

FOSAD ISAD Cluster DEPARTMENTS

1. Communications (co-chair)2. Arts and Culture (co-chair)3. Education, 4. Health, 5. Home Affairs, 6. National Treasury, 7. Provincial and Local

Government, 8. Public Enterprise, 9. Public Service and

Administration; 10. Science and Technology 11. Trade and Industry

13. Social Development, 14. Safety and Security, 15. Justice and Constitutional

Development, 16. Labour, 17. Environmental Affairs and

Tourism, 18. Government Communications and

Information System

IN ADDITIONPresidency9 Provincial DGs10 SALGA (CEO and 9 Deputy CEOs)10 Representatives of the House of

Traditional leaders (national and 9 provincial)

18

Intergovernmental Relations Forum

The Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act No 13 of 2005 encourages Cabinet Members to establish a national intergovernmental relations forum to facilitate and promote policy and related matters in their functional areas.

The Minister of Communications has been launched the ISAD IGR Forum on 12 December 2006.

The objective of the Forum is to: Serve as a consultative Forum with respect to ICT matters

across all three spheres of government and industry; Facilitate the building of an inclusive Information

Society across all spheres of government in an integrated and coordinated manner; and

Contribute to the development of ICT policies, programs and the coordinated implementation of initiatives so as to increase the impact of ICTs in support of more effective, efficient and timely service delivery.

19

In accordance with Section 10(1) of the Act the membership of the ISAD IGR Forum on ICTs consists of the following 23 permanent members: Minister of Communications (Chairperson) Minister of Public Service & Administration (1st Deputy

Chairperson) Deputy Minister of Communications (2nd Deputy Chairperson) 18 MECs (two MECs per Province dealing with economic and

another socio-economic matters Chairperson of SALGA Chairperson of The National House of Traditional Leaders Invited persons

Intergovernmental Relations Forum (cont)

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar One: Policy and Regulatory Environment

To ensure a predictable, investor friendly, progressive and enabling policy and regulatory environment and strengthen the capacity of the regulator.

oAchieve Policy Coherence

oEffective Implementation of Current Policies

oProtection of Digital Rights

oPatents as a Barrier to Technology Transfer

20

Pillar Two: ICT Infrastructure and Universal Access

To provide ubiquitous access to ICT infrastructure and services at affordable prices, thus enabling meaningful participation in the economy and society.

o High Technology Acquisition, Deployment and Access Costs

o Interoperability of Applications / Scalability and Adaptability of New Technologies

o Lack of Application Software to Support New Technologies

o Ensuring the Sustainability of the Current Access Strategies

o Security of Transactions

21

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Three: Local Content

To develop a national content strategy for the country, ensure that the Information Society in the country reflects the imperative of building a national identity based on democratic principles, the divers multilingualism of the South African society as well as promote the use of Open Source Software as a platform for supporting locally developed solutions.

o Coordination of local content initiatives in the country

o Local skills base for content creation

o Promotion of OSS

22

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Four: Digital Inclusion and e-Awareness

To increase awareness of the benefits of ICT’s to all, especially persons with disability, women, youth, children, elderly and including bringing to bear the acceptance of universal design of equipment as critical to meeting the objective of ensuring that services can be accessed by all irrespective of their abilities.

oEducation and Skills

oSocial Integration and Civic Engagement

o Information Exchange

oExpansion of Knowledge

oDevelopment of Individuals and Institutions

23

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Five: Human Capital

Ensure the country has appropriate skills to address the needs of the knowledge economy as well as to develop the skills necessary for a vibrant and sustainable technology sector in general and ICT sector in particular.

oMaths and Science at School

oe-Literacy for all

oCollaboration of government, business and academia to address the skills shortage

24

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Six: ICT Capacity Development and R&D

To develop a sustainable, science, technology and research sector and increase employment in vibrant and growing knowledge-intensive industries for competitive advantage in the knowledge economy.

oNational Innovation Strategy

oNational R&D Strategy

o Investment in R&D

oPromotion of Knowledge Industries25

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Seven: Coordination and Integration

To harness efforts across government structures in all three spheres of government with all stakeholders to realize Information Society and National development objectives.

o ISAD Integovernmental relations Forum (ISAD IGRF)

o ISAD Plan integration into PGDS, IDPs

o ISAD Institutional Mechanisms

26

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Eight: Funding

To ensure that investments by both government and the private sector are made so that basic infrastructure is financed adequately.

o Innovative Infrastructure Funding Models

oPromotion of Public Private Partnerships

27

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Nine: Institutional Mechanism

To adopt greater coordination and strategic synchronization across government to ensure that ISAD policies, programmes and initiatives are sequenced and driven in concert towards a shared overarching vision through a series of institutional arrangements that enable planning, alignment and coordination across government.

o Leadership on Policy Formulation and Implementation

o Coordination across and in the three spheres of government

28

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Pillar Ten: Measurement of the Information Society Development

To develop an indicator system that supports monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment, development planning, budgeting, forecasting and decision making processes regarding the development of the Information Society in South Africa.

o Indicators and Measures on Information Society Development

oDevelopment of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Impact Assessment System

29

Pillars of the ISAD Plan

Priority Focus Areas

Education, Skills Development and TrainingUnder the leadership of the Department of Education (DoE) with participation from core Departments and the PNC:- Design and implement appropriate funding models

for the implementation of the e-education policy & NEPAD e-schools initiative;

- The allocation of financial and human resources for the co-ordinated development and implementation of distance and lifelong learning, skills development, training and illiteracy eradication;

- The provision of appropriate and affordable ICT infrastructure, applications and services to meet teaching, learning & administration needs of all the above programmes.

30

Health

Under the leadership of the Department of Health (DoH) with participation of the Departments of Communications, Education, Science & Technology and Agriculture

- Development of White Paper on e-Health

- Development of Comprehensive and Integrated National Health Information System

31

Priority Focus Areas

ICT and SMME Development

Under the leadership of the Department of Trade (dti) and Industry with other relevant Departments and the PNC

- Grow and Develop the ICT SMME Sector

- Accelerate the Uptake of ICTs by SMMEs

- Grow and Develop Cooperatives in the ICT Sector

- Accelerate the uptake of ICTs by cooperatives in various sectors

32

Priority Focus Areas

Government Service Delivery

Under the leadership of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) with participation of Department of Provincial and Local Government, Home Affairs, Communications, as well as other relevant departments

- Ensure Consistent Provision of Information and Opportunities to the Broad Public

- Gather and Process Data on Socio-Economic Activity Across the Board

- Provide a Seamless ICT Enabled Service Delivery in Government

33

Priority Focus Areas

Local Content Development

Under the Leadership of the Department of Arts & Culture with Participation from Relevant Departments

- Develop a National Programme to Ensure the Digitization of Available Local Content

- Skills for the Creation, Storage and Sharing of Information

- Skills for Appropriate Software Creation Especially OSS

- Hardware Manufacturing

34

Priority Focus Areas

THE ISAD POA

The draft Programme of Action is derived from:

Areas identified in the ISAD Plan

The PoA adopted at its inaugural meeting

Issues identified by the DoC, DPSA and DHA as possible projects in response to the call by the President to identify 5 high impact projects for the next two years

Items in the POA of the five clusters which may be accelerated by the use of ICTs

35

36

BETTER CO-OPERATION AMONG NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL, AND LOCAL

GOVERNMENT IN INTEGRATED PLANNING

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS

Support Provinces and Local Government in developing their own ISAD Plans aligned to the National ISAD plan and to be integrated into the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PDGS) and the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) for municipalities

PNC, DPLG, DPSA, DoC

Develop an integrated ICT infrastructure plan to support the provision of a multiplicity of ICT applications and services, prioritising socio-economic development

DoC, DPE, DPSA, DPLG, DoE, DoH, PNC, Provinces

37

BUILDING A HEALTHIER NATION

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS

Development of a National Electronic Health Record. Out of which will be developed a National Electronic Patient Record.

DoH, DoC, PNCProvincial Departments

Development of a National e-Health Policy and start implementation by 2010

DoH, DoC, PNC,Provincial Departments

Prompt access to accurate personal health information from anywhere in a manner that ensures confidentiality, security and privacy

DoC, DoH, PNC Provincial Departments

38

BUILDING A HEALTHIER NATION (cont)

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS

Increase patient compliance with treatment of communicable diseases

DoH, DoC, PNC, Provincial Departments

Prompt access to accurate notifiable disease information form anywhere in a manner that ensures confidentiality, security and privacy

DoC, DoH, PNC, Provincial Departments

Increase access uptake and usage of ICTs to enhance the quality of health services

DoC, DPE, DPSA, DPLG, DoH, PNC Provinces

39

PROVIDING QUALITY EDUCATION TO ALL

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTSImplementation of e-Education Policy with a view to ensure that every learner in general and further training education will be ICT capable by 2013.

DOE, DoC, PNC, Provincial Departments

Implementation of the NEPAD e-schools Demo Project as the first part of implementing the NEPAD e-schools Initiative.

DoE, DoC, PNCProvincial Departments

Utilising ICTs to audio/ visualise the curriculum in all learning areas, thus making it easier to understand, and achieving effective teaching and learning.

DoE, DoC, PNC, Provincial Departments

Increasing access to maths and science education to schools with no teachers in those subjects

DoE, DoC, DST, PNC, Provincial Departments

40

PROVIDING QUALITY EDUCATION TO ALL (cont)

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTSIncreasing access to maths and science education to schools with no teachers in those subjects

DoE, DoC, DST, PNC, Provincial Departments

Train trainers to support the introduction of compulsory e-literacy (computer science, and Information and ICT literacy and competency) in all schools.

DoC, DoE, DoL, PNC, Provincial Departments

Train educators and subject advisors to integrate ICTs in teaching their respective subjectsFacilitate the provision of laptops for subject advisors

DoC, DoE, PNC, Provincial Departments

Reduce absenteeism and eliminating “ghost educators” by using ICTs to monitor record and act on non attendance

DoE, DoC, PNC, Provincial Departments

Increase access, uptake and usage of ICTs to enhance the quality of education using ICTs

DoC, DPE, DPSA, DPLG, DoH, PNC, Provinces

41

PROVIDING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND SERVICES

ONLINEACTIONS DEPARTMENTSImplementation of the National e-Government Programme

DPSA, DOC, DPLG, PNC, Provincial Departments

Establishment of the Local Government ICT Forum. DPSA, DOC, DPLG, PNC, Provincial Departments, SALGA

Development of relevant applications including websites for municipalities

DPSA, DOC, DPLG, PNC, Provincial Departments, SALGA

Development of relevant applications including websites for municipalities

DPSA, DOC, DPLG, PNC, Provincial Departments, SALGA

42

PROVIDING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND SERVICES

ONLINE (cont)

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTSProvide speedy government service delivery of enabling documents

DHA, DoC and all Thusong Center Departments, PNC, Provincial Departments

Increase and improve access to social grants and other financial services provided by the State form anywhere in a manner that ensures confidentiality and security

DSD, DoC, PNC and all Thusong Center Departments, Provincial Departments

e-Documentation – facilitate the digitization of the enabling

DHA, DoC ,DPSA, PNC, Provincial Department

BUILDING NATIONAL IDENTITYAND SOCIAL COHESION

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTSCreation of a National Digital Repository (NDR) of local historic and cultural content

PNC, DAC, DoC , Provincial Departments

Increase local content development PNC, DAC, DoC , Provincial Departments

43

BUILDING e-CAPACITY & EMPOWERMENT FOR SELF

EMPLOYMENT

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS

Establishment of youth e-cooperatives in all provinces

PNC, dti , Provincial Departments

Development of an ICT SMME Strategy . DoC, dti, PNC, Provincial Departments

44

CREATING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH

ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS

Launch of the National Youth ISAD Programme

PNC, DoC , NYC, Provincial Departments

Implementation of the National Youth ISAD Programme

PNC, DoC , NYC, Provincial Departments

45