PELONOMI VENSON-MOITOI

HONOURABLE MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
24 April 2007
Gaborone

Director of Ceremonies
Honourable Ministers, colleagues, here present
Permanent Secretary to the President
Microsoft General Manager for East and Southern Africa, Mr Thapelo Lippe, and your team
Chief Executives from the Private Sector, Parastatals and Government
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening.

I am delighted to welcome you all to this launch, which I hope will lead to a new chapter in the development and use of IT in our country.

One of the core functions of my Ministry is to promote IT literacy and to bridge the technology gap between different population groups. In addition we have the challenge of reducing the digital divide between us and highly developed countries.

It is my understanding that in Europe, the policy aim is to have a computer in every home and various programmes are in place to make this a reality. This is also our long-term vision and a necessity if we are to achieve our Vision 2016 target, which states that “the people of Botswana will be able to use and apply the potential of computer equipment in many aspects of everyday life”.

Our first step is to bridge this deepening divide by creating an enabling environment for IT development. Where do we start?

While pondering this, my team at the Ministry and Microsoft crossed paths. Microsoft invited us to join hands in a “Partnership for Technology Access” initiative. The purpose of this partnership is to bring down the cost of computers and to find easy repayment strategies for identified target groups. In other words, to offer affordable computers to the identified target groups.

Together we identified a project which would target the youth and civil servants.

Our choice of targets was informed by the high level of unemployment amongst the youth as well as the level of IT literacy in the country.

For example, a recent study conducted through my ministry showed that amongst the unemployed youth, some 4000 are those with IT qualifications, at degree, diploma and certificate levels.

With e-government about to be launched, many government services will, over the next 2 to 5 years, be available on-line and the general population will need to access these services through computer portals. Public servants could assist government to roll out this programme by acting as agents to train the nation as a whole on how to access these services.

For us to meet our objective, it became apparent that there is need for us to find partners from key stakeholders, such as hardware suppliers, banks, trainers, Internet Service Providers. I am happy to report that a number of Private Companies and Government Organisations heeded our call to join the initiative. These partners include, CEDA, the Department of Culture and Youth, Sahara Computers, it4Africa, Pinnacle, Axiz Botswana, HiPerformance Systems, Systems and Information Technology, Skills Share International, Orange, BTC, ISP providers and First National Bank - making it a true Private-Public-Partnership.

So what’s on offer?

CEDA is ready to support cyber café projects set up and run by unemployed youth. Through our project, the youth will access affordable computer packages and be equipped with the necessary information and know-how to run these businesses.

The Department of Culture and Youth will help us to identify youth and support projects both professionally and with grants. For the unemployed IT-graduates, who also will have access to affordable computers, a web-portal with a database is being set up with the idea of matchmaking between employers and unemployed IT qualified youth. Our first step here will be to identify these youth so that we can reach them.

Public Servants will also have access to affordable computers. Furthermore, Government, through DPSM, has designed a credit scheme to make it easier for public servants to buy a computer for home use. Expect news in this regard from DPSM on the DPSM intranet website in the next few days.

The presentations that will follow will give you more information on the various schemes and will also include information on the quality of the offerings available.

In addition, come 2nd of May, we are starting a publicity campaign and everything you need to know about the project will also be found in the press.

Before I conclude, I would like to thank Microsoft, in particular Mr Martial Nogbou, for helping us in initiating this scheme. Without Mr Nogbou and his enthusiasm and drive, this would not have happened. Let me also thank the rest of the Microsoft Team, Mr Thapelo Lippe who now heads Microsoft East and Southern African Region, Mr Harley Sitner, the Marketing Director for Partnership for Technology Access Worldwide who has flown in from Seattle and the rest of the Microsoft team. This is not the first time we have teamed up with Microsoft. You will probably remember that Microsoft came in as a diamond sponsor for the WITFOR Conference in 2005 and helped us increase the quality and profile of that Conference. They also have a partnership project with the Ministry of Education, which includes software and training for teachers.

I must also thank all the partners that have decided to join us in the scheme. The generous offers you have made and the contributions you are making to the development of the IT industry are a demonstration of your commitment to the youth and the growth of this country. Your support is greatly appreciated.

However, this is not a closed partnership. Other companies with interest in supporting youth and the spread of IT literacy can join when they are ready. We are not only looking for funds but also ideas of engaging the youth.

Ladies and Gentlemen, with this background information, you may now understand how the name for this project came about. We have given the project the name:
i-partnership – a computer for me

Director of Ceremonies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I will now allow our partners to come in a fill you in on the details. At the same time, I invite everybody to participate in this noble endeavour.

Thank you.
Pula.

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