Zimbabwe is exhibiting at the 2015 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Conference in Budapest, Hungary, where players from 120 countries are charting the way forward in the world’s fastest growing sector.
BY JOHN NYASHANU
The Zimbabwean contingent is led by ICT, Postal and Courier Services deputy minister Win Mlambo and also comprises mobile telecommunications company NetOne, telecoms regulatory body Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and TelOne.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged ICT players to utilise the sector in alleviating poverty throughout the world.
“You play a critical role in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted by world leaders to guide our work through to the year 2030. I encourage the government officials and technological leaders gathered in Budapest to foster greater innovation and entrepreneurship in the ICT sector, especially among small and medium-size businesses,” he said in a solidarity message.
In an interview on the sidelines of the one-week event, Mlambo said Zimbabwe was striving to provide the latest technology to all corners of the country, including rural areas.
“As we look at affordability of access to information in Zimbabwe, it is our goal to spread broadband to the rural areas, so that we meet the ITU deadline of 2020 to have done it. We feel that our participation here is extremely important, as we get ideas from other members of the international community, who have done it before and those planning to do it,” Mlambo said. NetOne managing director Reward Kangai said his organisation was learning a lot at the global indaba as it rolled out the latest technology, including 4G, to all parts of the country.
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Running under the theme Accelerating ICT Innovation to Improve Lives Faster, the conference ends tomorrow.
