Invitation: ADEC business breakfast briefing with Alec Hogg; SA government to review ICT policy

EE-News

News and announcements from EE Publishers

Issue 180, June 2012

Invitation to the ADEC business breakfast briefing with Alec Hogg

The Association of Distributors and Manufacturers of Electronic Components (ADEC) cordially invites you, your friends, colleagues and all interested persons to a business breakfast briefing entitled:

New insights into developments on the African continent, and how to position your company for the future

by Elec Hogg, executive director, Moneywebb

DATE: Friday 15 June 2012
TIME: 07h00 for 07h30
VENUE: Johannesburg Country Club, Woodmead, cnr Woodland Drive & Lincoln Road, Woodmead, Johannesburg
DIRECTIONS: Click here for map and directions
COST: R155 per person

This is an open industry event, but two seats are available free-of-charge to each ADEC member company.

The event is an ideal opportunity to entertain staff, customers, business colleagues and guests in a cordial and professional environment.

The ADEC business breakfast briefing is supported and sponsored by EE Publishers, EngineerIT magazine.

SYNOPSIS

Alec Hogg recently attended the Africa Economic Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in May 2012. From this Alec will give some new and uplifting insights into developments on the African continent. He will discuss why Africa and South Africa are becoming increasingly better placed, and how to position your company for the future.

BRIEF CV

Alec Hogg was educated at Newcastle High and Natal University. He is a media entrepreneur who founded Moneyweb Holdings in 1997. The company's shares are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the business is today worth over R70-million. Alec serves as an executive director on the Moneyweb board, and is passionate about investments, a field he has been immersed in for over three decades.

RSVP

Please RSVP soonest by sending an email too Jenny Gooding, jenny.gooding@avnet.eu, indicating the name, affiliation and email address of each person attending.

For further information please contact ADEC Secretary, Jenny Gooding, Tel: 011 809-6249, Cell:083 600-3200, Fax: 011 448-1591; Email: adec@icon.co.za; Website: www.adec.co.za

SA government to review ICT policy

by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT

SA minister of communication Dina Pule announced the establishment of an ICT policy review panel in her opening address of the first African ICT Indaba in Cape Town yesterday.

The inaugural ICT Indaba is hosted by the Department of Communications and the ITU with the objective to formulate a continental agenda and approach to expanding the growth of the ICT sector.

The minister said that discussions must shape the framework for using technology in order to achieve socio-economic development and create sustainable jobs. "Like many other countries, we have taken a decision to review and overhaul our ICT policies. We want the policies to deliver our progressive goals of achieving universal access to broadband much faster. To this end, we have invited nominees to serve on the ICT policy panel of experts, a group that will work with the department to provide for policy recommendations".

The invitation to nominate members of the panel was published in the Government Gazette of 1 June 2012, but yesterday's address was the first public announcement the minister has made on the subject.

The formation of the panel is the outcome of the April 2012 ICT Colloquium where two main objectives were agreed, namely:

- to develop ICT policies, legislation and strategies, which support the development of an ICT sector that creates conditions for the accelerated and shared growth of the economy; and

- and to develop strategies that increase the uptake and usage of ICT by the majority of the South African population, thus bridging the digital divide.

The programme also provides a basis for evaluating the impact of ICT-related policies, laws and strategies on improving the lives of South Africans.

Nominations for the panel have to be submitted by 30 June 2012. Clearly the ICT policy review panel was the minister's response to wide ranging criticism of the current policy, and the poor handling of frequency spectrum management by ICASA. At the April colloquium, industry had strongly voiced its opposition to government's approach.

MTN CEO Karel Pienaar said during a panel discussion yesterday that if Africa is to embrace the impact that the knowledge economy can have on job creation and economic development, a solid framework for ICT is a critical success factor. "The rapid population growth will see the continent having almost 2-billion people by 2050. This will result in a younger population that is bolstering the middle class and is already contributing significantly to consumer growth." He said the move towards urbanisation will also impact growth across the continent and that it is estimated that the number of Africans who live in urban areas will increase from 40% to 60% by 2050.

A trend noted by Pienaar was how Africa has been able to leapfrog technology development. He said that the continent has the fastest-growing telecommunications sector in the world, thanks mainly to the adoption of mobile technology. Furthermore, the way the financial services sector is responding to the changing economic reality of the continent will be a key growth area. While the majority of Africans remain unbanked, the growth projections for the sector are considerable.

However Pienaar added that the foundation to enabling a knowledge economy is a quality broadband infrastructure, and that delays in the roll-out of broadband could result in thousands of job opportunities being lost, with a significant negative impact on GDP.

"Spectrum allocation needs to be done immediately, and allocations must not be fragmented. Governments should not try to artificially increase competition through licensing. There are many examples in Europe of how this has failed". Instead, governments should facilitate e-skills, planning, and local content support. State-owned enterprises should be encouraged to tender with the private sector for ICT expansion initiatives, he said.

The question now is: will the constitution of the ICT policy review panel be such that it will allow the voice of industry to prevail and allow an aggressive policy outcome that will deliver. As MTN CEO Karel Pienaar and others in the industry have said: let the voices of experience be heard and let's act fast.