IMPLEMENTING THE NATIONAL ICT POLICY AND PLAN IN RWANDA A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

1
IMPLEMENTING THE NATIONAL ICT POLICY AND PLAN IN
RWANDA A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

• David K.KANAMUGIRE
• Rwanda Information Technology Authority
• Open Access 2004
• Stockholm, May 11-12th 2004

2
Country Information
Pop. 8,128,553 (08/2002) lt 14 years old 49 lt
20 years old 60 /- 400,000 are orphans /-
20 of head their household Male 46Female
54 (estimated 42 are widowed) 35 of all
households are headed by women
3
Country Information

• Land Area 26,338 square kilometers
• Location Between 1 3 deg. latitude south and
  29- 31deg. longitude east 75 miles from the
  Equator 880 miles from the Indian Ocean 1250
  miles from the Atlantic Ocean
• Altitude Most of the country lies above 1000 m,
  with half of it 1500 - 2000 m above sea level
• Terrain Mostly grassy uplands and hills relief
  is mountainous with altitude declining from west
  to east
• Land use 47 cropland, 22 forest, 18 pasture,
  13 other

4
Our History
5
Our History (contd1)
6
Vision for Rwanda

• Build a vision Vision for Rwanda (VfR 2020 ) by
  year 2020
• In order to transform the economy to middle
  income , knowledge based economy.
• By using ICT as the engine for this economic
  transformation

7
Comprehensive ICT Policy
Rwanda Vision 2020
Develop Rwanda into a middle income economy by
the year 2020
ICT Policy Plan
To modernize the Rwandan economy and society
using ICTs as an engine for - accelerated
development and economic growth - national
prosperity - global competitiveness
8
Background to the Vision

• Acknowledge our past
• Rwandans hold primary responsibility for our
  actions
• Change the Present
• If we could destroy our country, we could build
  it
• Build the Future
• Focus on what gives us key advantage

9
Building Blocks of the ICT Engine

• Infrastructure
• Energy and Power
• Telecommunications and Data Services
• End user service penetration
• Human factors
• Capacity Building
• User and Business Friendly Environment
• Reduce Access Costs
• Strategies
• Continuous assessment to improve plans Policies

10
The Roadmap
1998 ICT Policy Process Commenced
2000 Policy Plan endorsed by Cabinet
2001-5 First 5-year plan
11
Key plan Components (8 Pillars)
12
Plan thrust areas
ICT Service sector
ICT Industry
ICT Sector Development
ICT infrastructure
strategic focus
Systems
infrastructure development
ICT as Enabler of Broad-based Development
E-Government
agric sector
industrial sector
service sector
private sector
education sector
social sector
13
Policy Focus Areas
IMMEDIATE
FUTURE
Universal Access
Universal service

Education Training
Applications/Content
Intellectual Property
Employment/Workforce
Research Development
Infrastructure
Education/Training
Global Competitiveness
ICT Literacy
Knowledge Transfer
Innovation
14
Government Role

• Government assists in specific areas where
  private sector might not deliver
• Access to schools, hospital, libraries, museums
• Access in regional or urban development zones
• Digital divide initiatives to encourage access
  among disadvantaged groups
• Government initiatives to support education,
  training, awareness raising, applications
  development etc.

15
Government Role

• Government has positioned itself as a ICT
  champion
• Combines public funding with governmental
  guidance of private market
• E-Government Initiatives

16
Current Status(Regulatory Environment)

• Market Fully Liberalized
• Privatization of Rwandatel
• Licensing of other operators (Mobile Fixed Line
  )
• Separation of regulator functions
• Independent regulatory authority
• Deregulation of monopolistic markets
• Regulation of non-regulated chaotic markets

17
ICT incentives

• 0 Taxi on importation of ICT related products
  and Services
• A number of other ICT investment Incentives

18
Cellular Network Coverage

• Covers 65 of the population
• gt75 of Land
• 14 major cities
• 81 base stations in the entire country

Coverage Will increase when a second operator
comes
19
Rural Satellite Access

• Local Company (ARTEL) provides Connectivity where
  there is no other infrastructure
• Government subsidizes or fully pays for the
  service where market not competitive
• All provincial Centers are connected by either
  (PSTN, Wireless Broadband,or Satellite Connection)

20
Fiber Backbone Network

• Initially connect all government agencies and
  ministries
• Use wireless broadband for last mile solution
  where fiber can not be laid or not feasible
• Laid by the government
• Will serve both public and private sector

21
PSTN

• Rwandatel provides basic telephony
  connectivity services
• Leases some of its bandwidth to other ISP

22
Other Infrastructure in place

• Broadband wireless access to schools
• Initially 300 planned( about 30 connected so far)
  ,will increase annually
• Will also serve local community facilities
• Health care centers
• Local administration offices,etc..
• Community Wi-Fi hot spots (Individual
  Initiatives)-Hotels,public places etc..

23
Measuring ICT Penetration
Non-ICT users
CT Only users
Basic ICT users
Networked ICT users
Intensive ICT users
Phone penetration less than 10 (Phones divided
by Employees)
Phone penetration greater than 10
PC penetration 25 or greater (PCs divided by
Employees)
Internet connection penetration 20 or greater
(Internet connections divided by Employees)
Internet connection penetration 50 or greater
PLUS 2 Intensive ICT Filters

• Cutoffs

• Certain e-Government programs proposed in the
  NICI Plan will help National Government move
  through the door to Intensive ICT usage.
• National ID Card Computerization System
• Roads Record Information System (RORIS)

ICT Filter 1 Positive response to 6 our of 8
questions related to specialized hardware
software ICT Filter 2 Greater than 20 out of 25
points on questions related to attitudes towards
ICT
24
Current Status
Source On the Frontier, 2003
25
From the figures..

• National Government reports the highest levels of
  ICT Access, but 20 still have achieved the level
  of CT Only
• Local Government falls into the two lowest
  categories (94), driven by lack of access to
  basic ICT infrastructure.
• Large Businesses are concentrated (83) in the
  two lowest levels of ICT engagement.
• SMEs are the most evenly distributed across the
  spectrum, reflecting the varied conditions under
  which SMEs operate in Rwanda. However, 74 are
  classified as Non-ICT or CT-Only, indicating that
  they have not integrated PCs into their
  operations.

26
Sector Segmentation

• Public Sector
• National Government level
• A large number of initiatives underway
• Local provincial Government
• Private Sector
• Large Businesses (Financial Insitutions,etc)
• SMEs

27
Sector Responsiveness to ICT

• Government

• LargeBusiness

• Economic Impact
• Influence

• SMEs

• Attractiveness

• Prim. / Sec.Schools

• Universities

• NGOs

• Home

• Ease

• Short-term hurdles
• Access to Capital
• Interest

Notes Survey administered to ontheFRONTIERs ICT
Workgroup and Steering Committee
(n14) Source ontheFRONTIER surveys and analysis
28
Public-Private Partnerships

• traditional

strengths
Our goal
Public Sector
Public Sector
Public Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Community Interest Sector
Community Interest Sector
Private Sector
Community Interest Sector
29
Promoting Equal Partnerships
30
Rwanda ICT Special Initiatives
Some of Existing ICT projects
African Virtual University
Country Gateway
SchoolNet
Telehealth
E-Government
Telecentres
RwedNet
Rural Connectivity
Justice Network
Distance Learning
31
Challenges

• Very low penetration in the private sector
  (SMEs)
• Skills
• Seed fund for Community Networks
• Lack of skills drive up prices to levels that can
  not be afforded by the public

32
10 years later painful recovery

• Rwanda's economy rebounded significantly after
  the restoration of peace, averaging more than 15
  per cent annual growth between 1995 and 1999, and
  7.4 per cent in 2000-02, well above the average
  for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. (IMF)
• Today, Rwanda has much to show the world about
  confronting the legacy of the past and tackling
  the challenge of recoveryIt is demonstrating
  that it is possible to reach beyond tragedy and
  rekindle hope. Koffi Anan
•  

33
And Now

• Fast growing economy
• Stable Labor Market
• Total Government Support
• Technological Independence
• Fast telecom sector Growth
• Fast ICT Growth

34
Next Generation User-Charlie
35

• THANK YOU
• David K.KANAMUGIRE
• davidk_at_gov.rw