South African ICT Sector Development Framework

Chapter 3
A Framework for South Africa’s ICT Sector Development

Summary

"History proves that trying to evolve through a discontinuity is like walking across a chasm: leaping may seem risky, but it’s our only chance." Charles E Lucier and Janet D Torsilien - Trillion Dollar Race to E.

The purpose of this strategy is to further the development of the ICT Sector in South Africa. The strategy is intended to be complementary to and supportive of broader socio-economic development goals of the government of South Africa, particularly with regard to its emphasis on social upliftment and empowerment.

There are two main thrusts to the framework, namely the development of the ICT Sector and exploiting the capabilities of ICT in developing other sectors of the economy (which in turn will also drive the demand for ICT within South Africa). Within each of these main thrusts, specific goals have been established.

Figure 3.1 depicts the essential elements of the framework.

Vision

The Vision is:

"Fuelling the Information Economy: To develop a strong South African ICT Sector to contribute to sustainable economic growth, social upliftment and empowerment."

With successful implementation of this framework, 5 years, South Africa will have a strong, vibrant knowledge knowledge-based economy within 5 years that is creating new jobs, generating wealth, and improving quality of life through the development of the ICT Sector itself and the use of ICT as an enabler in other sectors. South Africa’s significant and growing ICT Sector will also act as an enabler of sustainable economic growth, social upliftment and empowerment.

This vision is expected to produce the following long-term results:

• Economic and social benefits will be achieved through the development of a strong South African ICT Sector;
• By promoting the ICT Sector, South Africa will significantly increase its ability to participate in the information age; and
• It will position South Africa for increased participation in the global knowledge society.

Goals

Following is a summary of the goals of the ICT Sector Development Framework. The goals are listed in Figure 3.2 below.

Goal 1: Robust, growing and sustainable South African ICT Sector, with equity

The intent is to create a cohesive, clearly delineated and vibrant ICT sectorICT Sector with strong leadership and commitment from all participants and stakeholders. The growth of the sector is expected to substantially outpace the South African economy as a whole and be comparable exceed in growth with the ICT sectorICT Sectors in more advanced information economies. Sustainability of the sector will be achieved through continuing profitability, global competitiveness and increased participation by disadvantaged individuals. In addition, the framework is intended to be adaptable to changing social, economic and technological circumstances.

Key indicators for measuring progress in achieving this goal are:

• ICT Sector revenues
• ICT Sector employment
• ICT Sector contribution to GDP
• ICT Sector exports
• ICT Sector R&D expenditures
• Number of ICT SMMEs

Goal 2: Increased: Increased use of ICT as an enabler for socio-economic development, with equity

The intent is to stimulate ICT-enabled growth of business across the economy. In this regard the adoption of ICTs in enabled sectors will help to increase goal is to increase overall employment through the use of ICTs, not just increased numbers of ICT jobs at the expense of jobs in other sectors areas of the economy. In this regard the intent is to specifically addresses equity issues with regard to gender, historically disadvantaged groups and those in rural and under-served communities.

Key indicators for measuring progress in achieving this goal are:

• ICT investment as a percentage of GDP
• Overall ICT investment in the economy as a whole

Goal 3: Knowledgeable and growing ICT- skilled workforce

A key underpinning of information age success is world- class products and infrastructure developed by a highly skilled workforce. The intent of this goal is to substantively increase the pool of highly skilled individuals in the ICT sectorICT Sector in order to create a growing base of world leading ICT products, and in other sectors in order to stimulate the adoption of ICTs in those sectors.

Goal 4: World-class culture of ICT Innovation

Developing a strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship will be essential to the growth and success of the ICT Sector. The intent is to actively encourage the process of innovation from the basic ICT research and development through to diffusion of ICT into the economy as a whole.

Strategies

The following four chapters provide details of the specific strategies for the ICT Sector. Each chapter covers the strategies and actions of each of the four goals (one per chapter), as presented above. Within each goal, the objectives of that goal, and related strategies and actions, are presented. The implementation plans to be developed will prioritise the Strategies and Actions and converge with any related initiatives.