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| Government consults on communication strategies |
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by
Edyth Betha, 04 November 2003
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19:23:13
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Government says it will establish an integrated infrastructure programme that will help link the different facets of communication, including transport, telecommunications and other services to enable the growth of an informed society.
Minister of Information Benard Chisale said this during the opening of a consultative meeting in Blantyre on Tuesday in preparation for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) which is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland next month.
Chisale said Tuesday’s meeting is a bold commitment to marshal Malawi towards the global information society while the forthcoming summit puts the world on the threshold of a new revolution.
“The relevance of this is that we now know we have a far greater future than our past, and that Malawi has an opportunity to proceed to more economic development through the information society, along with the rest of the world,” said Chisale.
He said developments in the information and communication sectors have transformed the way people work, interact and conduct their daily lives.
“Communication is one of the most important pillars in any development. It is for this reason that the Malawi Government places high importance on matters that affect this sector,” he added.
Secretary for Information Anthony Livuza said the consultation is important because the resolutions emanating from it will bind the country to a programme of action to be adopted by the summit in December.
“The discussions should be guided by a national desire to ensure that access to information and the tools of information are affordable. Unless we proceed at the same pace as a nation within the global village, the information society will lose out,” said Livuza.
He said while the world may be at different stages of readiness in the creation of an information society, the action plan will provide opportunities for incorporating the silent voices of the world.
He described the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as key enablers to the creation of an information society, and urged government, the civil society and media to join hands in working towards the improvements of ICT.
Meanwhile, government is working on several initiatives to align policies and regulatory framework to the initiative on information society.
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