EUP Assignmnt 1

To fully understand the concept behind the choices the writer will make on this assignment, first I
need to debunk why WSIS targets were made. WSIS targets were put in place so that the world can
have an all-inclusive information society. As a South African and looking around my society I have
identified the major targets I believe can leap from my community to a new level in this
information age.
The first objective I noted to have a paramount significance is connect villages with ICTs and
establish community access points. It is a painful thing to note that data rates are so expensive in
South Africa especially on a mobile phone. To ease in communication, if community access points
could be established that will make communication seamless. Every time I need to connect to Wifi
I have to travel and come to Unisa campus. Imagine a situation where at every corner we have a
wireless access it was going to be easy even for learning purposes. Instead of the university
sending study materials to students all over the country, with community access points students
can easily connect and have access to online materials. That will reduce the cost on the university.
Problems will always arise like who is going to bear the cost for infrastructure and setting it up.
Other questions looks at who will maintain the infrastructure as well. The best scheme is
infrastructure sharing and having public private partnership (PPP). That will ease the burden. A
society that is connected electronically is better. It is easy to empower.
Secondly, I would opt for connecting scientific and research centres with ICTs. Research is the
backbone of development the world over. Research plays an important role in modernisation. It is
fundamentally a venture in knowledge and upcoming competences which is converted into novel
goods, progressions, and amenities. With it comes progress. I am of the understanding that if
scientific research institutions are well connected they can lead to efficiency and even economic
development which everyone is crying about. Once we have a society which is well connected and
we identify areas in the community where the future lies I am of the opinion that my
neighbourhood can leapfrog and be on the cutting edge in this information society.
Thirdly there is need to adapting all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges
of the information society, taking into account national circumstances. It is vital that policy be
adopted and implemented to ensure that when the young ones grow they will have the knowhow
and capacity to use ICTs starting at tender age. The more people are equipped with knowledge the
better.
Fourthly, one key enabler is to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary
schools with ICTs. Education is a cornerstone of every community. Nelson Mandela once said
education is the powerful weapon that can change the world Investing in the young generation to
be capable of using ICTs is a fundamental freedom that needs to be cherished. "Catch them
young", is perhaps the expression that fits finest to prompt the longing education among
adolescents and young generation. They need to grow up being technology savvy for them to be
leading entrepreneurs in areas of technology. If this generation is neglected there is no way
communities can leapfrog in terms of WSIS targets.
The fifth most important point which of greater significance is health. This brings me to the point
of connecting health centres and hospitals with ICTs. How nice would it be to see that diagnosis of
some of diseases that South Africa is can be done using ICTs! Information is shared online. Some
of the challenges on diseases have been encountered elsewhere. Medications have been found
somewhere which treat new bugs that are ravaging South Africa. New techniques have been
developed to educate communities in areas of public health and health promotion which are both
preventative and informative. Only if our hospitals in remote areas like Venda where I come from
are connected online that will help reduce the burden of disease that is sometimes not recorded.
It would be injustice to leave this point out. 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. Internet has vast resources that can be used in many ways possible for good or for
bad. However the bad can be overridden by the by the good. For example software can be
installed to overcome the bad of people downloading adult content that may not be conducive for
children. Ne good example is K9 web filtering content. The same software can be used to block
people from visiting sites that can infested with virus. If content can be put in languages that
people understand it will help a lot. Language is a big barrier. If someone types www.google.co.za
only about six languages come out. The rest of the languages are not supported. However if
technical expertise can look into this deficiency the community I come from can benefit a lot from
the vast information that is available.
Next on the list would be to connect all local and central government departments and establish
websites and e-mail addresses for them. Effort has been made to ensure that government
communicates with electronic means. However centralising governance using ICTs still has
bottlenecks. Moving towards e-governance is still a far-fetched thing. If all government
departments and local governments are connected, communities will benefit a lot from it.
It is also vital that all public libraries, archives, museums, cultural centres and post offices be
connected to the internet. These vital entities of the state can serve not only the public but to
make sure that repositories of relevant history of the nation is securely saved and is accessible
whenever needed.
Second lastly, to ensure that the entire population has access to television and radio services.
Mass media has been part of the solution in making sure that the population is well informed. An
informed population can make right decisions.
Lastly ensuring that more than half the inhabitants have personal use of ICT. This had been a
challenge especially in rural and remote areas. But slowly with time especially with the advent of a
cellphone communication has been easy.
In conclusion, every effort has to be made to ensure that access to ICTs is cheap. This can be a
key to unlock the impossibility. As long as data rates remain out of reach. Something has to be
done by policy makers and business community to ensure that everyone has access to ICTs.

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To fully understand the concept behind the choices the writer will make on this assignment, first I

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