The Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to spearhead a groundbreaking initiative, crafting a comprehensive national digital strategy and action plan.
Thus, the ministry, alongside key stakeholders in the digital realm, convened a pivotal validation workshop to fine-tune Namibia's National Digital Strategy, setting the stage for a transformative digital landscape.
In collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Impact Tank, and UNDP Accelerator Lab, this initiative seeks to harness the potential of digital technologies.
It aims to fuel economic growth, elevate public services, and nurture inclusivity.
The Deputy Director of Institutional Policy Regulation Monitoring, Dr. Elizabeth Kamutuezu, said the aim is to focus on building capacity and nurturing widespread digital fluency.
The primary goal is to equip individuals, particularly public servants, with the proficiency to navigate digital devices, fostering a culture of inclusivity and empowerment.
"There is a gap between the rural communities, literate and illiterate, the youth and the elder, women and the men, so that is the digital divide in the ICT space that we talk about, and in order to narrow that, we need to bring in the element of inclusivity whereby you take targeted interventions, you target a certain segment or one of the certain segments I have mentioned earlier that we need to close this gap. For example, if you look at our elders and the youth, the youth are more technologically smart than our elders, how do we bring them closer to the technology so that they dont have that gap?"
She highlighted that the low adoption of technology stems from a pervasive lack of awareness, emphasising that people often remain unaware of the myriad of benefits that technology offers.
She underscored the crucial need to elevate critical awareness across all digital platforms as well as enhance people's skill sets while also ensuring the affordability of devices and internet data.
These steps, as Dr. Kamutuezu highlighted, are prerequisites for progress in this domain.
The anticipated timeline for developing and implementing the Digital National Strategy's Action Plan spans five years, pending Cabinet approval.
Notably, strides towards finalising the strategy are nearing completion, indicating significant progress.
Emphasising key priority sectors, the Ministry is focused on advancing e-education, e-health, and pivotal commercial realms, including the banking sector.