INFORMATION Communication Technology and Courier Services deputy minister Jerifan Muswere this week introduced a policy aimed at achieving a year-on-year ICT growth that doubles the national gross domestic product (GDP).
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Officiating at the World Tourism Day celebrations in Victoria Falls on Thursday, Muswere called on tourism industry players to tap into digital transformation.
“Digital transformation entails the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how the organisation operates and delivering value to customers. It is also a cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment and get comfortable with failure,” he said.
“The ministry’s policy objective is to achieve a year-on-year ICT sector growth rate that is twice as high as the Zimbabwe GDP. The rationale behind this policy objective is to use ICT sector growth to directly contribute towards the overall national socio-economic agenda. According to the World Bank, a 10% increase in broadband penetration causes a 1,38% in GDP contribution. In 2013, ICT contributed 15,2% to Zimbabwe’s GDP.”
Muswere said through social media, information was now being disseminated worldwide faster and, hence, the need to move at the same pace.
“Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp have collapsed the distance between people through posting messages and communicating in real-time,” he said.
“It is now common practice that hospitality service provision and destination marketing are now reviewed at the click of a button anywhere in the world. I would like to encourage the tourism and hospitality players to embrace and adopt these information and communication technologies to remain competitive in the global village.”
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To mark the World Tourism Day, residents were given an opportunity to view the Zambezi Rainforest free of charge after a walk from KoBusi bus terminus to council offices, where the main event took place.
