Opening address by Jean Swanson-Jacobs, Deputy Minister of Social Development on World Development Information Day, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town

Kholeka Mqulwana, MEC of Social Development, Western Cape
Snowy Khoza, Executive Manager, Development Bank of South Africa
Macharia Kamou, Unicef Country Representative
Government officials
Distinguished guest
Ladies and gentlemen

The first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society declared its: "common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Thank you for affording me an opportunity to address you this morning and allow me to officially open this gathering. It is indeed a pleasure to be here at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a site that is world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.

The Information Society and Development (ISAD) Plan that was given the go ahead by Cabinet earlier this year approved as the country's vision: "the establishment of South Africa as an advanced information society in which Information and Communication Technology tools are key drivers of economic and societal development."

This conference seeks to make this vision a reality as we come together to mark World Development Information Day (WDID). WDID draws the attention of world public opinion to development problems and the need to strengthen international co-operation to solve them. Improving the dissemination of information and the mobilisation of public opinion, particularly among young people leads to greater awareness of the problems of development, thus, promoting efforts in the sphere of international co-operation for development.

The eradication of poverty and the full enjoyment of the basic social rights by all must be goals enshrined in all economic and development policies, and be measures of their success or failure. As the Department of Social Development our goal for this Indaba is:

"To raise awareness of information as an enabler of sustainable social development with government bodies, service providers, communities and people."

This important event seeks to also profile information as a strategic resource which supports all our strategic objectives in our daily undertaking. The principles of democracy rest on accountability, transparency and access to information. Government as custodian of information generated during the course of business or records held containing information about our citizens is responsible for ensuring that information use, dissemination and innovation are given the strategic priority it deserves.

In order for us to eradicate poverty we need an informed nation, which will participate and contribute to the economic growth of our country. Without information one is not able to make informed choices and exercise your basic human rights. Thus one of our themes is 'Shared Information is Power' as opposed to the traditional slogan of 'Information is Power.'

The theme for the Indaba will focus on 'Information for Development'. The two-day Indaba will expose delegates to the latest trends in the profession of Information as well as Knowledge Management within the social development environment. There will be an opportunity for the delegates to exchange and promote ideas within the Information Management System Technology (IMST) and Knowledge Management field.

I notice that there are many interesting topics up for discussion. Given my predilection for youth issues I find the subject of MXit particularly interesting. Cell phones in particular offer solutions to development challenges. The information revolution has ushered in an era where the capabilities for participating in all aspects of the economy and society are changing with the diffusion of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs). Today half the world's 6,5 billion people use a cell phone. There are more than twice as many cell phone owners in developing countries as in industrialised countries. Subscriber growth rates in developing countries are at 25 percent per year.

Through cell phones, the first digital information and communication technologies have reached poor households and communities. In less than a generation, the majority of poor people will have access to cell phones and services.

Cell phone ownership brings two types of benefits:

Incremental benefits improve what people already do - offering them faster and cheaper communication, often substituting for costly and risky journeys, particularly those from excluded groups or locations. This has helped them solve a variety of problems that would otherwise have been costly or difficult to address.

Transformational benefits offer something new - new ways to access services and support livelihoods. Evidence on this is only just emerging because it relies on a cell phone's ability to be 'more than just a phone'. We as government need to look at different ways of providing information and service utilising this versatile technology. Central government ministries, for example, have access to valuable information that can be unlocked with technology.

The growth and potential impact of mobiles are phenomenal. Cell phones can be seen in action, for example, helping deliver on every one of the Millennium Development Goals - including poverty, education, equality and health. But technology has limits. Some limits are imposed by the social context. Others are imposed by the 'physicality of development': we cannot reduce all of development into the bits and bytes that cell phones can handle.

Many of the world's poor communities have access not just to a phone but to a camera, calculator, audio player, video player, and timepiece and - soon enough - a platform for e-mail and Web use, all built into one device. The theme for this year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is 'People Living in Poverty as Agents of Change.' The growth of cellular technology allows the poor to act as agents of change so that information can indeed be used for development. For the next decade or more, we will continue to be surprised by the ways in which these new technologies interact with development processes.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all the stakeholders who made this day possible for us to be here. Indeed this is a cause for celebration as government, national, provincial and local, private sector and civil society. It has been demonstrated today that better networking and strong partnership amongst different stakeholders provide us with and opportunity of bringing services to our community without duplicating of resources but maximising the little resources effectively and efficiently as we share expertise and best practice. Such participation is needed in order to understand stakeholder perceptions, perspectives, values, attitudes and practices so they can be incorporated into the design and implementation of development initiatives.

In conclusion, I wish you well in your deliberations, as we seek to create a better future and well-informed nation by promoting sustained economic growth through information sharing.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Social Development
24 October 2007