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ICTs”, was commemorated in Bikita last Tuesday as bridging the ICT divide remains one of the most important hurdles to be overcome in the world’s quest to create better informed societies.
ICTs are increasingly in demand to meet the Millennium Development Goals. In the rural context, ICTs provide enhanced opportunities to generate income and combat poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy.
Half the world’s population resides in rural districts and far-flung communities. This half – three billion people – represent the poorer, less educated, and more deprived cousins of our urban citizens. Indeed, latest figures indicate that as many as 70 percent of the developing world’s 1,4 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas. They are also among the least connected to the benefits of ICTs.
ICTs and related e-applications are key instruments in improving governance and rural services, such as providing community health care, safe drinking water and sanitation, education, food and shelter; improving maternal health and reducing child mortality; empowering women and the more vulnerable members of society; and ensuring environmental sustainability.
As ICTs increasingly dictate lifestyles and behaviour patterns and power the growth of trade and commerce, rural communities must not be allowed to fall behind cities in their quest for connectivity.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which met in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005, called upon countries to consider establishing national mechanisms to achieve universal access in underserved rural areas in order to bridge the digital divide.
The International Telecommunications Union said they are committed to connecting the world and to ensure that the benefits of ICTs reach the remotest corners as well as the most vulnerable communities.
“The theme of this year’s WTISD, ‘Better Life in Rural Communities with ICTs’, aims to ensure that ICTs will contribute to a better future for our rural populations. As a means of bringing global attention to this theme, ITU will present the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Award to eminent personalities who have contributed to connecting rural communities to the benefits of ICT,” read ITU’s website.
Meanwhile, all is set for Afri-Tech, Africa’s first internet and digital marketing exhibition. The event, set to be held in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is expected to bring world-class marketing gurus from United Kingdom, the United States of America, Asia and Africa.
According to the chief executive officer of Afri-Tech, the firm behind the summit, Bernard Sanganza all the speakers have confirmed participation for the meeting likely to be graced by Kenya’s President, Mwai Kibaki. The event is expected to last for four days from June 15-18.
“We are just waiting for the big day in Nairobi as marketing gurus converge to chart the way forward on digital marketing,” Mr Sanganza said. The CEO said the realisation of “Africa’s dream” is finally coming to fruition, with significant support already confirmed from leading corporate firms in Africa, the government of Kenya as well as universities. While the works involved have been hectic and bureaucratic, marketing experts argue that the conference will significantly shape the future of products and services sales globally.
“The development will see firms learn from marketing experts from around the world. This will obviously impact positively on companies’ output,” Mr Ital Chando, the firm’s head of marketing, said. Only three weeks ago, Afri-Tech hosted a curtain-raiser event at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre that was well attended my industry captains across East Africa.
Catherine Ngahu, the chairman of the Kenya ICT Board, lauded the brains behind the June meeting, arguing that Africa can only come out of the perennial problems of poverty when the continent embraces modern technology. “This was a well-thought-out meeting for digital marketing. Indeed, through such a platform, firms can reach millions of clients within the touch of a computer button. ICT board is ready to host Afri-Tech, and provide all the support it will need,” Ms Ngahu said.
In the past two years, Kenya has been spotted by key foreign investors, who consider the country as business-friendly. Today, the country hosts global firms’ Africa head offices in the city such as Google, Samsung as well as Nokia. A confirmed conference attendees list shows that a number of government parastatals in East Africa, corporate sector as well as universities will be attending the summit.
Moreover, the team spearheading the world-class meeting led by Mr Chando and chief operating officer, Chris Sanganza, is already in Kenya to bolster the firm’s preparedness for the conference.
“After the June conference, focus will be shifting to Southern Africa as well as West Africa where similar activities have been planned,” the CEO said.
The four-day exhibition and “highly engaging” conference will provide the attendees with a mass of new knowledge and new contacts. It is projected to feature more than 150 leading minds from the local market, most of whom are brand advertisers, traditional and interactive agencies, portals, on-line publishers and technology providers.
According to Mr Sanganza, marketing executives from brand organisations, agencies, publishers and solution providers “attend our events in order to stay on top of the most important content, network with industry leaders. The conference will also provide understanding on how firms can work with the latest technology and media. Our events truly answer the needs and wants of those passionate about digital media,” he said.
Statistics show that Afri-Tech is Africa’s first and most established Internet and digital media institution. Marketing experts say the June summit is timely, especially at this time when the continent is fast embracing technology. Key subjects of discussion include the future innovations in Internet and digital technology. This, the Afri-Tech president says, will focus on the latest innovations in digital technology, what the future holds for investors and what one should look out for in the ever changing communications landscape.
“More interesting will be the building of brands through a digital platform. Here, experts will take a look at the agency’s role traditionally companies built brands in the offline world through television and print media. But today some of the most well-known brands, Google, Facebook, Skype all originated online. How can agencies help organisations build a successful online brand and are they currently equipped well enough to do so?” he said.
According to McKinsey Quarterly survey, companies that make the deep strategic and operational shifts required to become effective digital marketers can become more agile, more productive, and accelerate revenue growth.
“Since the dawn of the Internet, marketers have regarded it as a vast laboratory, launching experiment after experiment to crack the code that generates sales and customer loyalty. Not surprisingly, most have failed.
“Consumers adopted digital technology as they themselves saw fit, in the process fundamentally altering the way they make purchasing decisions,” the study found.
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