Region to boost technology

THE Eastern Cape government is planning to use increased information and communication technology to improve its efficiency in areas as far ranging as education, service delivery and customer care, delegates to a conference were told yesterday.
On behalf of provincial director-general Dr Sibongile Muthwa at the Eastern Cape ICT conference, general manager of provincial communications Nomfundo Luphondwana said: “The province has commenced with the process of developing a comprehensive ICT strategy. This process will bring together all sectors within the province – commerce, industry and institutions of learning.”
She said areas for partnership could include the development of support and teaching materials, especially for schools who already had computer technology and connectivity, but needed content they could teach and use.
ICT could also be used in the provincial crime prevention strategy, using technology to inform pupils about crime.
Other areas where ICT could effectively be used was in the delivery of services by government departments and Luphondwana asked: “For example, amongst the challenges in the 10 poorest municipalities in the province, is there a role for ICT in order to promote development?”
Customer care services could also benefit greatly from ICT programmes and Luphondwana gave the example of users of government institutions being able to send an SMS query to a government department, or even a “please call me” in order to have their problems sorted out.
“This is not rocket science and as members of this forum, you know this can be done tomorrow with sufficient will.
“Why is it that we are not partnering effectively for the growth and development of the people of the Eastern Cape?” she asked.
Successful ICT pilot programmes in the rest of South Africa included the use of mobile phones for data exchange at the Johannesburg General and Helen Joseph hospitals that allowed medical practitioners to access patient history, test results and allowed them to check prescriptions from a mobile device.
She said in the 10 poorest municipalities “I would like to see each government communicator with a computer with all the right hardware and software, a 3G card and a laser printer. It‘s not a lot.”