Digital transformation, access to information, and infrastructure development are top priorities of the Strategic Policy Plan of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
This was revealed at the end of the ministry's two-day Strategic Policy Review Planning session attended by Minister Emma Theofelus, ministry executives, and representatives of state-owned enterprises.
The blueprint will guide the ministry for the next five years, from 2025 to 2030.
Tackling connectivity at public institutions and in remote areas, as well as a one-stop portal of government services online for the public to access information and advancing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, are also on the cards.
The minister said the plan aligns with NDP6 and the Swapo Party's manifesto.
Furthermore, the government has committed N$300 million to ensure the expansion of network infrastructure
"Over the past two days, we tried to make it as realistic as possible to see, even in the instance where the funding may not be sufficient, what we can do in a year or time, three years before we reach the four or five years. All of this we have tried to put together, with the assistance of the MICT staff themselves, as well as the public enterprises that fall under mict, who have really brought in their valuable expertise to help us build this strategic plan," said Theofelus.
The public institutions that fall under the ministry formed part of the planning session; these include the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia, Telecom Namibia, and the Namibia Film Commission, among others.
Theofelus emphasised the importance of having the leaders of the institutions form part of the strategic plan to create synergy.
"I think sometimes there is a perception that public enterprises are divorced from government, when in fact, they are agencies of the state who have been entrusted with a particular task to do on behalf of the state, and that's why they're called public enterprises and not private enterprises. And so their expertise, really, and the value they brought to this strategic planning was necessary. One, to create synergies so that we speak the same language. You don't want MICT saying this, and CRAN or Nampa or New Era or NBC, or whoever is saying the other. And this is why we thought we should do it concurrently and together, so all of us can deal with the underlying issues together and iron them out if any issues need to be ironed out."
The Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Modestus Amutse, tasked the team to prioritise implementation.
"Let's go and work on what we have planned. Because to put things in documents is one thing, to implement them is another. We are known for putting very beautiful things on paper; at the end of the day, the implementation becomes another issue. I believe this is not the focus, and during the opening remarks by the Honourable Minister, the encouragement has always been that we implement."