APEX PROJECT 3: Implementing the ISAD Plan and increasing uptake and

usage of ICTs by government and individuals

PRESENTATION TO THE

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONSPORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS

MOKWINING NHLAPO – COO : PNC ON ISADMOKWINING NHLAPO – COO : PNC ON ISAD

CAPE TOWN,10CAPE TOWN,10thth JUNE 2008 JUNE 2008

Overview Background WSIS Targets and Action Lines Information Society Hub Dinaledi Schools connectivity Sub-projects Way forward Conclusion

Background Apex project 3 is one of the 24 Apex priority projects of government,

announced by the President in his SONA in February 2008 The project was decided on because of South Africa's low uptake and usage of

ICTs by government and individuals

Underpinning the Apex Project 3 is the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in particular its Plan of Action

The point of reference of the Apex Project 3 is the connectivity of the Dinaledi Schools using Sentech's Wireless Broadband Network

Apex Project 3 is aimed creating Information Society Hubs in the coverage areas of the Dinaledi Schools network

The project will be implemented by the FOSAD ISAD Cluster's sub-committees led by relevant government department

Background cont’d

The FOSAD ISAD Cluster was established as one of the Institutional mechanisms in February 2008 when Cabinet approved the ISAD Plan and has the following subcommittees, namely,

ICT Infrastructure – DoC (Co-Chair) Local content – DAC (Co-Chair) e-Education, skills and training – DoE e-Health – DoH e-Government – DPSA SMMEs and ICTs – DTI e-Documentation – DHA Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation - DST

WSIS 2015 Targets In building the Information Society, our ISAD programme is

aligned to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) programme;

WSIS Plan of Action has got both the targets and the action lines;

WSIS Targets based on internationally agreed development goals, including those in the Millennium Declaration, to be achieved by 2015;

a. to connect villages with ICTs and establish community

access pointsb. to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and

primary schools with ICTs;c. to connect scientific and research centres with ICTs;d. to connect public libraries, cultural centres, museums,

post offices and archives with ICTs;e. to connect health centres and hospitals with ICTs;

WSIS 2015 Targets cont’d

f. to connect all locals and central governments departments and establish websites and email addresses

g. to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances

h. to ensure that all of the world’s population have access to television and radio services

i. to encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of all world languages on the Internet;

j. to ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach.

WSIS ACTION LINES cont’d

C1: the role of government and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development

C2: information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for the Information Society

C3: access to information and knowledge

C4: capacity building

C5: building confidence and security in the use of ICTs

C6: enabling environment

WSIS ACTION LINES cont’d

C7: ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life

C8: cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content

C9: media

C10: ethical dimensions of the Information Society

C11: international and regional cooperation

Information Society Hub Information Society stands on four main pillars

o Infrastructure-broadband connectivityo Content development o Appropriate applications, e.g. e-Education, e-Health, e-Government etc.o Skills development

The information society hub needs to address the development challenges such as unemployment and poverty

Information Society Hubs create opportunities for accelerated implementation of Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives and programmes The information society hub needs to demonstrate a collaborative, coordinated

and integrated way of working (across government departments and in all spheres of government) and it is also a multi-stakeholder partnership.

Dinaledi Schools connectivity

☎ For its roll-out of the Wireless Broadband network, Sentech was allocated R500 million.

☎ Based on the cost of the technology to be used , Wi-Max, Sentech estimated that with R500 million allocated, it can procure 150 base stations

☎ Based on the analysis of the preliminary topographic data collected, 150 base stations will cover 233 Dinaledi Schools.

☎ Taking into account the total number of schools, a decision had to be made as to which schools to cover with the money allocated.

☎ The roll-out should cover all the nine provinces

Criteria for selecting schools cont’d

The criteria for the selection of the Dinaledi Schools was that the project must be of high impact on poverty, women, youth and disability.

Therefore the selection of the initial 233 Dinaledi Schools to be connected should be governed by:High impact on poverty eradicationLarge numbers of students to benefitLarge numbers of related sites to be connected (post

office, Thusong Service centre, library, clinic, police station etc) in the coverage area of the school

Dinaledi SchoolsThere are currently 483 Dinaledi Schools

geographically located across the nine provinces and the breakdown per province are as follows: Gauteng – 101 Kwa-Zulu Natal – 84 Eastern Cape- 60 North-West – 51 Limpopo- 51 Western Cape – 45 Mpumalanga- 44 Free State- 35 Northern Cape - 17

Proposed break down per province

In line with the high impact criteria the following break down is proposed per province Gauteng – 25 schools Kwa-Zulu Natal – 40 schools Eastern Cape- 40 schools North-West – 20 schools Limpopo- 35 schools Western Cape – 20 schools Mpumalanga- 25 schools Free State- 20 schools Northern Cape – 17 schools

Sub-projects of the Apex Project 3

Infrastructure Development•DescriptionThere are a number sub-projects under Infrastructure Development, these include the connectivity of Dinaledi Schools as the main sub-project and then the connectivity, using the same Dinaledi Schools network, of government related institutions like health centres, libraries, research institutions, police stations, post offices, government offices, schools other than the Dinaledi Schools, heritage institutions and tribal offices. The connectivity will be through Sentech Wireless Broadband Network, in order to ensure capabilities of services such as interactive learning in schools, video conferencing, internet, data communication and e-mail. To ensure availability of connectivity at an institution, there will be a need for Network Terminating Unit (NTU) at each site.

•Policy decisions A base station has the capacity of 24 MHz, a policy decisions to be made on the capacity you are going to allocate to each institutions. It is proposed that schools have 2 MHz and 1 MHz for Health Centres. The second policy decision to be made is which institutions will be subsidized and which ones will pay for connectivity. It is proposed that schools, health centres, libraries and research institutions be subsidized using funds from the Universal Service Fund.

Implementation statusA topographic data collection exercise has been completed to inform the design of the Network.The National Department of Education and the provincial education departments have identified 235 Dinaledi schools to be connected. Related sites e.g. health centres, libraries etc. have been identified and infrastructure audit is underway

ICTs for teaching and learning•DescriptionSchools would need to be enabled to take advantage of the Sentech Wireless Broadband Network. Deployment of ICT equipment is an important step to ensure that ICTs impact on teaching and learning. Teacher training will be pursued in line with the DoE programme on Professional Development of teachers using ICTs. Thutong Portal will be strengthened to increase digital content especially Maths and Science content. e-Administration capability will be developed to improve the management of the school as well as communication with districts and provincial education offices. Young people who participated in the e-literacy programme that was initiated in 2007 will be deployed to schools as part of the community services as a requirement by the National Youth Service (NYS).

•Policy decisionsA policy decision will need to be made on the student computer ratio to assist with the deployment of ICT irrespective of the size of the school. Another policy decision to be made will be on the type of software to be used, proprietary or open source software. A policy decision will need to be made on appropriate incentives for educators who ensure that they are well skilled to integrate ICTs in their teaching

Implementation status126 out of 235 Dinaledi schools identified has some form of computers for teaching and learning with a minimum of 15 computers per school. Teacher training has been going for a number of years now, 52 915 (trained on basic ICTs), 23 980 (trained on integration of ICT for teaching and learning) and 22 361( trained on ICT technical support). For the NYS, 377 young people were trained ICT skills and 164 are busy with their community service in schools. Thutong Portal was launched 3 years ago.

ICTs for teaching and learning continues

•Description Lessons learnt and the experience of NEPAD e-school Demo project from more than 20 countries is valuable, the South African demo schools would need to be included into the list of prioritised Dinaledi schools. To ensure that children who enter the schooling system around the Dinaledi Schools network coverage are prepared for an Information Society orientated education, there will be initiatives targeting the Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDCs). An Information Society is a society with no illiteracy, to achieve this an ICT based literacy campaign will be initiated working with the Women Development Banking. The campaign is currently in only three official languages and the plan is to cover all the remaining languages, targeting the coverage area of the Dinaledi school network.

•Policy decisionsA policy decision will have to be made to support the South African NEPAD e-schools and ensure that they are also prioritised for connectivity. A policy decision will have to be made on whether to use only DoE registered ECDCs or include those that are not registered as well.

•Implementation status South Africa has 6 NEPAD e-Schools and Demo Project covered more than 20 African countries which brings with it wealth of experience from all these countries. DoE has a Kidz Smart programme with IBM, installing computer stations in 600 Early Childhood Development Centres across the country. Women Development Banking imported from India an ICT programme that teaches reading and writing and the programme has been launched in IsiZulu, Tsonga, Sepedi and the plan is to cover the remaining languages

ICTs for delivery of health care•Description The management and support of TB and chronic diseases using ICTs is an important intervention that will focus on customising the existing TB register and design health information system for chronic diseases at the primary health care level. The second intervention will focus on training health professionals to use the District Health Information System (DHIS) to capture statistical data on the activities of the clinic. In the MTEF 3500 unemployed graduate i.e. e-cadres will be recruited and trained on health informatics, information systems development and design, diagnosis and procedure coding, IT support and telemedicine, and then deployed in clinics.

•Policy decisionsA policy decision will have to be made to develop the TB register and the chronic system of open standards. A policy decision will need to be made to include the competency of using the DHIS as a requirement to health professionals. Another policy decision will have to be made on the medico-legal issues when e-cadres are deployed in clinics to deal with confidential information of patients (e-Health policy).

Implementation statusAll provinces have got a District Health Information System (DHIS) to capture data, what is lacking is infrastructure at a clinic level. Training of health professionals is also lacking.

ICTs for enterprise development•Description Programmes aimed at starting new and supporting existing enterprises are important to ensure contribution of the Information Society Hubs in the local economic development of communities and the socio-economic development of the country. An e-cooperatives programme to benefit unemployed youth will be initiated aimed at broadening participation in the economy and fighting poverty. The project aim to establish 100 e-cooperatives to benefit 1000 youth. SMMEs in the arts, crafts and tourism will be support through the development of websites. To ensure that the children around the Dinaledi Schools are not hungry at school, a Job-for-Growth programme will be initiated at school. This will involve schools providing food for children at school that is prepared by unemployed women as well as some other self-help initiatives.

•Policy decisionsA policy decision need to be made on preference given to e-cooperatives to ensure that sustainability, e.g. maintenance and support of ICT in schools, clinics, development of websites etc. A policy decision will also need to be made on the relationship of Jobs-for-Growth and the Feeding scheme in schools. This will involve looking at Jobs-for-Growth initiative replace Feeding scheme project in a community where Jobs-for-Growth can have a bigger impact.

• Implementation status46 e-cooperatives were established in 2007 benefiting 420 youth from all the nine provinces. In Mpumalanga and North West provinces, these e-cooperatives are contracted to develop and maintain municipal websites.

ICTs for government information and services

•Description A Blue Print has been finalized detailing the infrastructural architecture for both Thusong Service Centres (MPCCs) and Thusong Post Offices. A virtual private network (VPN) will be developed for both Thusong Service Centres and Thusong Post Offices. Both are expected to provided a number of government services and discussion with the Departments of Home Affairs, Social Development, Revenue Services and Labour is underway. For post offices, existing post offices in the coverage area of the Dinaledi school network will be transformed to Thusong Post offices and where there are no post offices new ones will be built using Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) principles. e-Applications will be developed to support the delivery of Apex Priorities of the ISAD Cluster working with ISSA and other relevant institutions.

•Policy decisionsPolicy decisions to be considered include what government services to be found in a Thusong Service Centre. A policy decision will also be needed to facilitate the interoperability of systems of different government departments including SAPO system. A policy decision will be needed on the staff working at the Thusong Service Centre or Thusong Post Offices. if it is one person who is responsible for employment

• Implementation status The President launched a Thusong Service Centre on the 7th June 2008 in KwaZulu Natal. Institute of Satellites and Software Applications (ISSA) has already developed applications usedin schools, government offices and municipalities

ICTs for local content development•DescriptionNational Digital Repository on Cultural Heritage involves the development of the portal which will contain South Africa’s arts, culture and heritage. The next step is to recruitment additional 600 unemployed youth from all municipalities nationally. They will be trained on the different components of content development, these include concept development, research, interview, writing, operating a digital video camera etc. They will then be send out in communities to interview elderly people who can share with them the history of different communities including the cultural heritage. As part of the project will be the digitization of the material at the National Archives. The other sub-project to be initiated will be the deployment of ICTs in libraries and heritage institutions. The development of OSS capability in the coverage area of Dinaledi school network will be another initiative. •Policy decisionsA policy decision will need to be made on the hosting, governance and regulation of the National Digital Repository as there are issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) that will have to be managed. A policy decision will need to be made of the national digitization programme of S.A.

• Implementation statusThe portal was developed by 20 unemployed graduates that were recruited, trained and placed at NEMISA. the North West chapter of the portal was launched by the Premier of North West during the ISAD IGR F meeting in May 2008.

ICTs for enabling documents

•DescriptionTo initiate an Integrated Citizen Information System, a pilot will be conducted in Gauteng province. The initiative will target the vulnerable members of our society, i.e. children, women and the elderly. The project will be the collaboration of the DHA, DSD, DoH, DoE and the Gauteng provincial government and for children it will focus on birth registration. This is important as it will contribute to fighting poverty by enabling this children to access government services like children grants.

Policy decisionsA policy decision will have to be made on the interoperability of the systems of these government services. Like in the Thusong Service Centre a policy decision will have to be made on the personnel to provide services of another department.

•Implementation statusGauteng province has already started a Bana Pele initiative which enables children to access a package of government services through a ‘single window’. The service package includes the following government services; child support grand, school fees exemption, school uniforms, school feeding, free health care and psycho-social support.

ICTs for research & development and innovation

•Description The sub-project aim to initiate Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) technology, to link buildings that are in line of sight of each other, even with distances exceeding 7 km with broadband. The project proposes a national initiative to build a broadband backbone that stretch into rural areas, and then, to distribute broadband connectivity within local areas using WMN. The backbone could be a combination of Sentech, SITA and newly established broadband infrastructure. A local WMN could be operated, supported and maintained by an entrepreneur, SMME, cooperatives or members of the local community, which facilitate local economic development. This project will be piloted in Dinaledi Schools.

•Policy decisionsPolicy decisions to be considered will include amongst other the cost of space on existing towers owned by Sentech, Eskom, SANDF which may impact on the long term availability of free broadband to schools.

• Implementation statusA schools network pilot project run by the Meraka Institute (supported by Motorola) built a 400km backbone linking schools as far as Hendrik Makapan School (near Polokwane) to Lomahashe School (near border with Swaziland and Mozambique), both schools being NEPAD e-School demo sites. In the Ekangala District of Mpumalanga, 10 Dinaledi schools have been linked into this backbone. The backbone consists of 8 high masts linked and spurs from the towers linking into local areas (with one or more schools linked in WMNs). This backbone has the potential to connect most parts of Mpumalanga with options to upgrade current 10 Mbit/s bidirectional capacity to 50 Mbit/s

Way forward

Policy considerations - Sub-committees to confirm the policy decisions

Sub-committees to make recommendations on possible sources of funding for the shortfall 26th June ISAD Inter-Ministerial Committee amongst others, need to make decisions on recommendations made by the cluster, e.g learner-computer ratio; government institutions to be subsidised or to be provided with connectivity for free

Conclusion

Apex Project 3 is the first phase of the implementation of the Information Society and Development (ISAD) programme

For this implementation to be sustainable it has to be driven at provincial and local government spheres

In the ISAD IGR Forum discussion are underway to assist provinces with integrating ISAD Plan in their Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS)

The Department of Communication is convening an International Municipal Broadband Conference in two months

Thank You