President Hakainde Hichilema says his administration will mainstream digital revolution in national programmes in order to tap into the talents and creativity of Zambians.
President Hichilema emphasized the critical role that the digital and knowledge economy plays in enhancing productivity across all sectors of the economy.
The Head of State explained that digital transformation affects every aspect of human, social, political and economic activities.
President Hichilema said this when he delivered his maiden speech to the first session of the 13th National Assembly in Lusaka today.
The President further said digital transformation also presents huge opportunities for developing countries, especially those that seek to industrialise.
“Government is keen to support innovation and creativity especially, which offer home grown solutions across all sectors of the economy,” President Hakainde stated.
The Head of State added that his government is committed to technological advancement in the country thus, the proposed formation of the Ministry of Technology and Science.
He further explained that government will implement policy measures to promote economic transformation especially in sectors such as Information and Communication Technology.
The President noted the importance of digital transformation especially under the COVID-19 pandemic environment, which has restricted physical interaction and changed the way people conduct business.
President Hichilema observed that people are already enjoying the benefits of Information and Communication Technology in their daily lives.
And the President has assured that his administration is determined to meet the basic needs of every citizen and create a conducive environment for Zambia to become a prosperous middle income country.
Indeed a digital revolution is key. That should start with stability in the energy sector, affordable high speed internet service. Regulate against rip off merchants who charge customers data bundles for recieving free internet calls. Some of our relatives back home are scared to answer their free WhatsApp calls for fear of using up their data bundles.
This guy HH is good, he only messed up by appointing males as ministers. Worse of all, no white or Chinese person in Cabinet.
IS THIS ALL?
You need to fund STEM Hubs like Bongo Hive. The Creative Hubs themselves need to step up and broaden their scope. If the Bazungus can fund start ups, then we can do it. We have to emulate Kenya and other African countries that have made huge strindes in IT in the last ten years.
Enough of wishful thinking..now it’s time to act and people want results…no more campaign promises….
get things done….how much is fuel…free education….how much is cement…how much is melie meal…stop diverting from your campaign promises
Saulosi – Time to act when your Lazy Lungu has eaten everything including the table…you have to see how you can generate revenue budget first to align with your campaign promises ..Lazy Lungu and his waste is long gone.
If you want a digital transformation pull broadband cables from the oceans from Angola and Tanzania under a govt entity like Kenya’s Safaricom then privatise the distribution side to encourage competition that way you keep tariffs down and attract customer service jobs from the US, Oz and UK in Zambia for our youth.
Concentrate foremost on industralising the country……..
People need jobs ASAP…..
Digitalisation is a natural successor of industrialisation…..
While zambia gets updated in digitisation , the main focus should be industrialisation for producing hard goods for export…..
ZESCO is doing so but they tend to be more expensive than the private sector
One thing that amazes me about you is your confidence and stern belief in yourself,,, and those are the two ingredients that makes one achieve greater heights in life
Really i admire you…
I now feel we have a president and a leader, balya bambia bena twali kuwire.
Get real! How different are these pronouncements from dollar droping at inauguration day, free education in one week, fertilizer coming home at K250, three meals a day, 15 sacks of fertilizer a farmer?
In a shortest period of time, I have see him backtracking on dangerous promises he made.
When it gets real, he and his followers realize that talk is cheap. Stop building castles in the wind.
Empty talk is non-inspiring or uninspiring.
More promises, more promises, more promises.
Barely a month in office, people who did not vote for HH are the ones demanding for the promises they never believed in the first place. You have no right to demand for those. It is us the 2.8million who should be disappointed if they are not fulfilled, not you. Just vote for lazy Lungu or whoever in 2026. For us we going to be patient with our man and we believe he will deliver at least on most of the promises. It is a new dawn so get over it.
Can’t see it happening. Everywhere they tried it has failed: go to the Immigration Department, they were digitized ten years ago, all paid for by USAID. Go to the office now, you see computers on each desk but only used for whatsapp, for the rest they STILL use the old paper files. Nothing has changed!
S_ilk – They have every RIGHT to demand for campaign promises they too pay tax and have vested interest in the affairs of their country…elections are long gone my dear friend. The only problem I have with them is they still assume everything is as easy as getting a loan from China at a ridiculous interest rate to build an overpriced project and forgetting about who will pay for it. PF is gone and now someone else is cleaning their mess.
FYI I am no UPND supporter I just want the best for my country Zambia.
techie – ZESCO stumbled on that idea years ago to lay fibreoptic broadband cable alongside their powerlines by chance …they didnt have a tangible plan on what to do with it
There is a reasonably good team on the Smart Zambia initiative. What appears to be lacking is credible leadership. Gather together a good team to spearhead a real transformation Mr President. You have plenty of talented young (and not-so-young) talent there to help with that! I know some of them personally.
Government departments should embark on digital transformation programmes, for example the current NRC can be upgraded to a credit size card embbed with chip and NFC where biometric data can be stored.
Tarino Orange you’ve made good points and yes,Kenyans and their very profitable Safaricom should be emulated .