As the national roadshow by the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Charter working group draws to a close, the group has started collating public comments received so far before drawing up a final draft.
Reporting its progress on Thursday, the ICT Charter’s working group — chaired by Advocate Dali Mpofu — said as the national roadshow draws to a close, “the real work begins”.
The roadshow’s next stops are Limpopo’s Polokwane and North West’s Mafikeng both on Monday and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga on Tuesday.
In Johannesburg in early May, the group will host a “consolidation of information event” to solicit last inputs ahead of the June 25 deadline. The event will be attended by ICT stakeholders representing various provinces and participants from Gauteng.
“The main objective of the roadshow was to give the provinces the opportunity to hear first-hand the ideas in and behind the draft charter. The workshop formats were done in such a way that it allowed for background presentation and current content of the charter, inviting questions and discussion from the participants to give their input,” the group said.
The non-prescriptive first draft, unveiled in March, forms an integral part of the government’s broad-based black economic empowerment strategy, the group said. The charter is aimed at providing recommendations for processes and mechanisms to be used to implement economic transformation within the sector.
“The first draft is not about rules and regulations, but outlines areas of discussion and simply highlights clear needs and issues that must be addressed to develop the right managerial and technical skills,” the working group added.
The second draft, informed by collated inputs, is due for release on Tuesday with further updates taking place until May 15.
“Any issues left out need to be brought to the ICT working group’s attention as a matter of urgency. The working group has set a target date to launch the final version — June 25,” Mpofu said.
“The ICT Charter has and still does enjoy the full backing of industry associations including the Black IT Forum, the Computer Society of South Africa, the Electronic Industries Federation, the IT Association and the South African Communications Forum, which puts the ICT working group in good stead to complete our mission successfully.” — I-Net Bridge