ADVISORY COUNCIL ON INFORMATION SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT

Issued by: Ministry of Communications

21 October 2001

President Mbeki concluded the first meeting of the Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development (ISAD) at Lake Pleasant in George on the 21st of October 2001.

The President agreed with the Advisory Council on ISAD that the time has come for a "big idea" and a "short walk" to African connection within itself and the world as part of MAP aimed at ending the isolation and the marginalisation of the continent. The Advisory Council emphasised that a master plan was necessary to go beyond the many exciting projects the public and the private sectors are involved in. The master plan will help to fast track the economic recovery of the continent by;

1) Increasing the connection between Africa and the rest of the world, and to the rest of world to Africa.

2) Discussing the "big idea" by Africans in partnership with the international community.

The President first announced the establishment of the Advisory Council in February this year at the opening of Parliament. The decision to establish this Advisory Council was based on the realisation that information and communications technologies are key drivers for growth of the economy as well as for socio-economic upliftment.

The following Ministers participated in the two-day meeting:

• Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Minister of Communications;
• Dr Ben Ngubane, Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology;
• Dr Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Intelligence;
• Mr Jeff Radebe; Minister of Public Enterprises;
• Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Minister of Public Service and Administration;
• Ms Thoko Didiza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs;
• Mr. Trevor Manuel, Minister of National Treasury;
• Mr Alec Erwin, Minister of Trade and Industry; and
• Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa, Deputy Minister of National Treasury

This meeting of the Advisory Council was attended by top level executives and experts as listed below:

Mr Sergio Giacolletto

Oracle

Mr Manuel Castells

Berkely University

Dr Henry Chasia

Telehouse Space Ltd

Mr Mark Shuttleworth

HBD

Mr Hans Maerki

IBM

Gary Fazzino

Hewlett Packard

Gerard Dega

Alcatel

Reza Madhavi

Cisco Systems

Shanker Trivedi

Sun Systems Inc

Esther Dyson

Edventure Holdings Inc

Hasso Plattner

SAP AG

Varun Khanna

NIIT

Carly Fiorina

Hewlett Packard

Phillipe Bohn

Vivendi Universal

Presentations were made by the Ministers responsible for Communications and Public Service and Administration as well as the Deputy Minister of Finance on the following topics:

• An overview of the South African economy (trends and issues facing the country)
• Development of the policy, legislation and regulatory framework, which governs the information and communications technology sector in South Africa as well as a briefing on the sector itself.
• Movement towards e-government for accelerated service delivery

The plenary deliberated amongst others, on the following issues:

Development of a HR and R&D Plan;
An education campaign on promoting government's ICT initiatives;
Infrastructure development, Tele-education and Tele-health applications;
e-government;
skills development;
use of ICTs by SMMEs;
Open-source software development;
liberalisation of the sector;
integrated development;
an incentives regime;
public-private partnerships;
syndication of ICT projects; and
Africa as an investment destination.

The meeting identified the following as key goals and objectives for South Africa and Africa:

• Sharing of successes of South African and African business and government initiatives
• Identification of a few priority projects that will be completed successfully to have a great impact on Africa's development;
• Universal, affordable service and access;
• Lowering input costs;
• Widening and retaining the skills base in ICT's (brain-circulation rather than brain-drain); and
• Africa-wide infrastructure development.

In this regard, Government should establish a shared national vision for the ICT sector around which to rally the country. In addition, a broader ICT vision for the continent is also critical to attract investment in the sector and create opportunities.

It has been decided that the Advisory Council should meet in South Africa once a year to further exchange ideas and progress. Quarterly virtual web conferences will be held between annual meetings to facilitate sharing of information and exchange of ideas as well as communicating progress reports on projects.

Enquiries:
Robert Nkuna 082 887 6874