ICT part of everyday living
Chairman of the board of directors at Telecom Namibia, Joseph Litha at the opening of the 6th annual Telecom ICT Summit that took place this week at the Safari Hotel and Conference Centre.(Photograph by Melba Chipepo)
Managing Director of Telecom Frans Ndoroma spoke about ICT becoming an integral part of life, “Namibia’s development requires a communicative structure, which should be harnessed to achieve real sustainable development for business, society and the environment as Namibia moves towards Vision 2030” he said.
Minister of Information and Technology Joel Kaapanda who officiated the event said there are more cellphone subscribers than there are inhabitants in the country and that over 500 000 people are now able to access the internet from their phones. He also mentioned that the West African Cable System which was launched earlier this year will aid in helping Telecom Namibia and MTC Namibia in the process of making their presence known in other countries as well as set a platform for Namibians to have access to the rest of the world.
The three-day summit had over 930 participants, including CEO’s, business individuals, ICT Companies and over twelve exhibitors drawn from educational institutions and private companies including CISCO, AVM Broadband Innovations, Torque IT and Green Enterprise Solutions.
Chairman of the Board of Telecom Joseph Litha said that the summit which coincided with the 20th Anniversary of Telecom Namibia, looked at the revolution that has transformed the IT and telecommunications sector in Namibia and Telecom Namibia, as the key player, over the past 20 years. The summit also aimed at discussing how to harness the potential of ICT to create an inclusive society, to promote the development goals of NDP-4, which are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability.
The summit was also held in celebration of women and girls in the ICT sector, Kaapanda urged more women and girls to get involved in the ICT sector and be a part of the next wave of technology that will make things smaller, cheaper, smarter and more user friendly.
