National Information and Communications Technology Policy 2016

Challenges
i) Non recognition of the ICT profession, inadequacy of skilled
and competent human resources base and illiteracy amongst
citizens to effectively participate in a knowledge society;

ii) Ineffective leadership framework at different levels to champion
the integration of ICTs in the socio-economic development
process;

iii) Lack of appropriate frameworks for deployment and utilization
of ICT infrastructures including data centres, right of way,
e-readiness and availability of electricity in most rural areas;

iv) Underutilization of the deployed radio-communication
frequency spectrum and other scarce ICT resources due to lack
of policy framework;

v) Most ICTs used in the country lack or contain minimal local
content components, online content language is foreign
predominantly English which is not accessible to most citizen
and no framework for promotion of the competitive ITES/BPO
Industry in the country;

vi) Relative increase in ICT infrastructure vandalism and unsafe/
unsecure use of communication services which lead to
cybercrime, infringement of privacy and detriment to national
culture including child abuse online;

vii) Unsupportive policy framework for National ICT
standardization and e-waste management;

viii) Weak research & development (R&D) in the sector and high
dependency on ICT importation which negatively impact
innovation within ICT start-ups and the industry;

ix) Low negotiation capacity and ineffective participation in
regional and international integration ICT initiatives which
hinder opportunities for network creation, collaboration and
linkage to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and technology
transfer;

x) Dire need to develop awareness of hidden and under-promoted
conceptual and technical assets on Intellectual Property rights;

xi) Ineffective integration of ICTs for increased productivity and
value addition in the production chain; and

xii) Increased gender inequality in ICT initiatives and ineffective
application of ICT in key / potential crosscutting sectors.

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