Zambia participated in the just ended International Telecommunications Union (ITU)’s 18th Plenipotentiary conference in Guadalajara, Mexico from 4 to 22 October 2010.
At the conference Member States made decisions on the future role of the organization and its ability to influence and affect the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) worldwide.
Zambia was represented by the Honourable Minister of Communication and Transport Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa MP, Permanent Secretary Mr. Dominic Sichinga SC, government officials, Chairperson for Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) Mrs. Gertrude Akapelwa-Ehueni, Director General for ZICTA Mrs. Margaret Chalwe-Mudenda and other officers from ZICTA.
The International Telecommunication union -ITU which is a United Nations specialized Agency responsible for overseeing the development of ICTs holds a Plenipotentiary Conference every four years to set the Union's general policies and adopt four-year strategic and financial plans.
Delivering the Zambian government’s Policy Statement at the Conference, Prof Lungwangwa said in order to stimulate growth in the ICT sector; the Zambian Government had put in place the necessary legislation to facilitate this growth. These interventions had so far resulted in increased Mobile penetration in the magnitude of 100% in just two years.
He said in addition, the government had implemented policies that had resulted in the decrease in the cost of international calling rates by as much as 70% and also reduction in the cost of domestic calling rates by an average of 60%.
On Government efforts to bridge the digital divide between urban, peri-urban and rural areas, Prof Lungwangwa told the Conference that the Government had established a Universal Access and Service Fund which is already being implemented to promote electronic communications services in un-served or under-served areas and communities. The Universal Access programme was promoting widespread availability and usage of electronic communications services throughout Zambia.
He said Zambia planned to expand ICT infrastructure especially Optical Backbone to cover all parts of the country in the next five years and this would be stimulated by the implementation of the e-government strategy that seeks to provide citizen centric integrated services covering all sectors delivered through multiple delivery channels accessible to all citizens.
He also shared with the Conference which includes delegates from over 150 ITU member states that the Zambian government had created an enabling environment to promote investment and innovation with the correct mix of Public Private Partnership allowing private sector to flourish.
He said Zambia looked forward to increased support from ITU in implementing the ICT strategic plan.
Regarding the issue of cyber security, Prof. Lungwangwa said Zambia was aware that pervasive use of electronic data services came with challenges of cyber security and hoped that the Plenipotentiary Conference would come up with outcomes that address cyber security as well as climate change.
He also urged ITU to play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges of inter-operability and conformance saying that often, member countries were faced with challenges of interoperability of products from different suppliers, in some cases leading to duplicated deployment of products. This would become even more pronounced with the impending migration to Digital Terrestrial Television.
He reiterated Zambia’s commitment to supporting the development efforts of ITU to make the world a better place for its citizens.
The Plenipotentiary Conference which was attended by participants representing both government and private sector, as well as regional and international organizations, re-elected the ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure from Mali and his Deputy Mr. Houlin Zhao from China. They will each serve a second four year term of office. Director of the Standardization Bureau Mr. Malcom John from the United Kingdom was also re-elected to serve a second term.
Ngabo Nankonde
Public Relations Manager
At the conference Member States made decisions on the future role of the organization and its ability to influence and affect the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) worldwide.
Zambia was represented by the Honourable Minister of Communication and Transport Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa MP, Permanent Secretary Mr. Dominic Sichinga SC, government officials, Chairperson for Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) Mrs. Gertrude Akapelwa-Ehueni, Director General for ZICTA Mrs. Margaret Chalwe-Mudenda and other officers from ZICTA.
The International Telecommunication union -ITU which is a United Nations specialized Agency responsible for overseeing the development of ICTs holds a Plenipotentiary Conference every four years to set the Union's general policies and adopt four-year strategic and financial plans.
Delivering the Zambian government’s Policy Statement at the Conference, Prof Lungwangwa said in order to stimulate growth in the ICT sector; the Zambian Government had put in place the necessary legislation to facilitate this growth. These interventions had so far resulted in increased Mobile penetration in the magnitude of 100% in just two years.
He said in addition, the government had implemented policies that had resulted in the decrease in the cost of international calling rates by as much as 70% and also reduction in the cost of domestic calling rates by an average of 60%.
On Government efforts to bridge the digital divide between urban, peri-urban and rural areas, Prof Lungwangwa told the Conference that the Government had established a Universal Access and Service Fund which is already being implemented to promote electronic communications services in un-served or under-served areas and communities. The Universal Access programme was promoting widespread availability and usage of electronic communications services throughout Zambia.
He said Zambia planned to expand ICT infrastructure especially Optical Backbone to cover all parts of the country in the next five years and this would be stimulated by the implementation of the e-government strategy that seeks to provide citizen centric integrated services covering all sectors delivered through multiple delivery channels accessible to all citizens.
He also shared with the Conference which includes delegates from over 150 ITU member states that the Zambian government had created an enabling environment to promote investment and innovation with the correct mix of Public Private Partnership allowing private sector to flourish.
He said Zambia looked forward to increased support from ITU in implementing the ICT strategic plan.
Regarding the issue of cyber security, Prof. Lungwangwa said Zambia was aware that pervasive use of electronic data services came with challenges of cyber security and hoped that the Plenipotentiary Conference would come up with outcomes that address cyber security as well as climate change.
He also urged ITU to play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges of inter-operability and conformance saying that often, member countries were faced with challenges of interoperability of products from different suppliers, in some cases leading to duplicated deployment of products. This would become even more pronounced with the impending migration to Digital Terrestrial Television.
He reiterated Zambia’s commitment to supporting the development efforts of ITU to make the world a better place for its citizens.
The Plenipotentiary Conference which was attended by participants representing both government and private sector, as well as regional and international organizations, re-elected the ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure from Mali and his Deputy Mr. Houlin Zhao from China. They will each serve a second four year term of office. Director of the Standardization Bureau Mr. Malcom John from the United Kingdom was also re-elected to serve a second term.
Ngabo Nankonde
Public Relations Manager
