The Potential for Harnessing the Utilization of ICT in the Transport Sector for SocioEconomic Develo

1
The Potential for Harnessing the Utilization of
ICT in the Transport Sector for Socio-Economic
Development Case for Zimbabwe

• Presentation Prepared for Science With Africa
  Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 3-7 March 2008
  
  
• By R. Machigere
• Research Scientist Building Technology
  Institute Scientific Industrial Research and
  Development Centre, Zimbabwe
  

2
General Country Overview

• Zimbabwes Membership include UN, AU, SADC,
  COMESA, WIIS, etc
  
• Land Area for Zimbabwe - 390757 sq. KM
• Population for Zimbabwe - 11 634 663 Male
  Pop. -49 and Female Pop. - 51 Urban Pop. -
  30 and Rural Pop - 70
  
• Agriculture is the main economic activity
  accounting for 17 of GDP
  
• Other key economic sectors include Mining,
  Tourism, Manufacturing, Construction
  
• Key social sectors include Education and Health

3
Status of ICT Transport Systems

• a. General Overview
• ICT and transport are not explicitly cited in the
  8 MDGs
  
• Both ICT and transport systems are catalytic to
  socio-economic development including poverty
  reduction and environmental sustainability
  
• Key sectors which benefit from ICT and transport
  include agriculture, tourism, manufacturing,
  mining, construction, health and education
  
• Deployment of ICT has the potential to enhance
  productivity, efficiency and cost effectiveness
  across the various social and economic sectors
  
• ICT infrastructure in Zimbabwe (hardware and
  software), like in many parts of Africa, is not
  only inadequate but also not fully exploited to
  enhance efficiency, reliability and effectiveness
  of transport systems
• Zimbabwes 2006 Draft National Transport Policy
  recognize the importance of harnessing the use of
  ICT/ITS in the transport sector
  

4
Status of ICT Transport Systems (Cont)

• b. ICT Systems
• As at May 2005 tele-density stood at 2.5 per 100
  inhabitants in Zimbabwe
  
• Full exploitation of ICT is hampered by
  inadequate infrastructure which require huge
  capital expenditure and maintenance
  
• Inadequate provision of utilities such as
  electricity supply remote rural areas limit
  access to ICT and coverage by the especially by
  the rural population
• Forms of ICT including broadcasting,
  telecommunication and internet play vital role in
  promoting the dissemination of information and
  skills transfer critical for socio-economic
  development
• Forms of ICT such as e-Government, e-learning,
  e-commerce, e-agriculture and e-health are
  critical in promoting an information and
  knowledge based society and economy. Potential
  beneficiaries from such forms of ICT include
  ordinary citizens, farmers, students traders
  SMEs, women, people living with disabilities and
  the youth
• ICT has the potential not only to reduce the
  digital divide between rural and urban population
  but also to reduce physical distance barrier,
  improving communication and networking with FR
  as well as increasing accessibility to services
  and manage demand for traveling from point A to
  B
• ICT has the potential to reduce transportation
  costs and transaction cost thereby contributing
  towards saving of income earnings and poverty
  reduction

5
Status of ICT Transportation Systems (Cont)

• c. Transportation Systems
• Road Network - Zimbabwe has a total of 91000km of
  road network of rural roads accounts for about
  70 of the total network.
  
• Remote rural areas are under serviced due to poor
  state of the roads
  
• Vehicle Population stood at 1.2 million as at
  April 2006 of which about
  
• 10 000 constitute the rural and urban public
  passenger bus fleet
  
• State owned enterprisers namely the ZUPCO, NRZ,
  RMS and Air Zimbabwe are complimented by private
  operators in the provision of transport services
  (both passenger and freight transport)
• Rail network Zimbabwe has a total rail network
  2600km of 1067mm gauge
  
• Some sections of the railway signaling system are
  obsolete and require replacement and
  modernization
  
• Other forms of transport include civil aviation,
  inland water transport and pipeline
  
• ICT technology applications like GIS (for
  transportation planning) and GPS for cargo
  tracking and fleet management are at infancy of
  development

6
Uses and Potential Benefits of ICT/ITS in
Transport

• Uses
• Decision making - As decision making supporting
  tool
  
• Transportation planning and evaluation of
  transportation systems
  
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Car/Vehicle and Cargo Tracking
• Generation and provision of relevant information
  management systems
  
• Incident management and emergency response
• Potential Benefits
• Improved productivity, operational efficiency and
  optimization of transport systems e.g. in
  logistics and supply chain management
  
• Improved customer services
• Reduced transaction costs
• Elimination of unnecessary costs and reduction in
  transport costs
  
• Poverty reduction and improved quality of life
• Improved competitiveness and FDI inflows
• Reduction in traffic accidents deaths,
  injuries and property loss
  
• Enhanced security of valuable assets/property

7
ICT Tools/Applications in the Transport Sector
and Socio-Economic Beneficiaries

• ICT Tools/Applications
• Email
• Internet
• VoIP
• Radio
• Telephone (fixed mobile)
• RS
• GIS
• GPS
• Vehicle OCC equipped with WIM facilities
• ETC
• EFP
• EDI

• Socio-Economic Beneficiaries
• Rural and Remote Communities
• Vulnerable Groups - Women, Children, Elderly,
  People Living with Disabilities, the Poor
  
• Farmers
• Traders
• Retailers Wholesalers
• Transport Service Providers
• Emergency Service Providers e.g. Police, Fire
  Rescue, Ambulance
  
• Traffic Enforcement Agencies
• LGA Transport Authorities
• Importers Exporters
• Customs Immigration Authorities
• Transport Planners/Practitioners
• The Environment

8
Potential Key Interventions for Harnessing
Optimizing Utilization of ICT in the Transport
Sector in Zimbabwe and Africa at Large

• Smart partnerships among cooperating partners
  including scientific research centres with
  multinational corporations to facilitate RD and
  investment in ICT hardware and software
• Increased investment in energy/power supplies
  through interventions such as rural
  electrification and tapping on non-renewable
  sources of energy
• Investment in ICTs or Intelligent Transportation
  Systems such as GPS, GIS
  
• Increased investment of ICT infrastructure and
  transportation systems like rural roads to
  increase accessibility to services and enhance
  mobility of vulnerable groups including SMEs,
  women, youth, and people living with
  disabilities
• Mainstreaming and putting ICT and transport
  development on national, regional and continental
  priority agenda as they are critical towards
  realization of the MGDs

9
Acronyms

• EDI Electronic Data Interchange
• EFP Electronic Fare Collection
• ETC Electronic Toll Collection
• GPS Global Positioning System
• GPS Geographical Information System
• ICT Information and Communication
• Technologies
• ITS Intelligent Transportation System
• LGA Local Government Administration

• FR Friends and Relatives
• MDGs Millennium Development Goals
• OCC Overload Control Centre
• NRZ National Railways of Zimbabwe
• RMS Road Motor Services (Pvt) Ltd
• RS Remote Sensing
• WIM Weigh In-Motion
• VoIP Voice Over Internet Protocol
• ZUPCO Zimbabwe United Passenger Company

10
References

• Federal Highway Administration, Intelligent
  Transportation Systems and Planning Process
  Instructors Guide Publication No. FHWA-HI-99-005
  October 1998, National Highway Highway Institute
• Government of Zimbabwe, May 2005, Zimbabwe
  e-Readiness Survey Report, Information and
  Communications Technologies in Zimbabwe Project
  ZIM/ 03/003
• Government of Zimbabwe, Census Report 2002
• Habitat, Nairobi (1994) Report of the regional
  seminarStrategic options for public transport
  improvement in large cities of the developing
  countries Pune, India 27-29 January 1993
• Helen Aitkin Bridging the Mountains Divide A
  case for ICTs for Mountain Women, Mountain
  Research and Development Vol. 22 Number 3 August
  2002
• Ministry of Transport and Communications -
  Zimbabwe 2006 Draft National Transport Policy
  Document