Story by Fairstars Mukungurutse
THE Government has identified strategic partnerships with globally recognised stakeholders in the digital ecosystem as key to bridging the digital gap in the country.
This comes as President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to officially unveil the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy this Friday, a development expected to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies across all sectors.
Building a digitally skilled and technologically capable population remains one of Government’s key priorities as the country works towards achieving a 100 percent digital literacy rate by 2030.
The Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Honourable Tatenda Mavetera, who presided over the Digital Literacy and Digital Skills Development Dialogue hosted by the Computer Society of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the International Certification of Digital Literacy (ICDL) in Harare this Thursday, emphasised the importance of strategic partnerships with globally recognised stakeholders in the digital ecosystem.
“The strategic partnerships that we are having with ICDL are very relevant. They help us achieve the vision of 100 percent digital literacy. We cannot do it alone as Government. Let us collaborate and find the various players who are going to assist us. What they are doing is to upgrade our workforce and make sure our people are technologically sound. Digital skills have to be deployed across the whole country and we need more players to come on board and help us as Government achieve 100 percent digital literacy,” she said.
The Minister said the upcoming National Artificial Intelligence Strategy will mark an important milestone in Zimbabwe’s digital transformation journey.
“Our national digital transformation journey will reach an important milestone this Friday as President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa will officially launch Zimbabwe’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. This landmark initiative will position Zimbabwe to harness emerging technologies for national development.
“However, the success of any national AI agenda ultimately depends on the population’s digital literacy and technological competence. In this regard, the Artificial Intelligence module within the ICDL framework presents an important opportunity. Promoting AI education using internationally recognised standards such as ICDL will ensure that Zimbabwe develops measurable and globally benchmarked competencies in artificial intelligence literacy,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer of the International Certification of Digital Literacy, Mr Damien O’Sullivan, pledged continued support for Zimbabwe’s digital transformation agenda.
“We have already started with the University of Zimbabwe. They have adopted ICDL as the digital skills standard for their students and staff and have already certified many thousands of students. We are engaging with the higher education sector to ensure there is a common standard so that all students leave higher education not just with an academic qualification but with a strong level of digital confidence.
“Our role is to support the development of the programme, working with local partners, with schools, with universities and also in the public sector, ensuring that public servants are provided with a strong level of digital competence,” he said.
Zimbabwe aims to achieve 100 percent digital literacy by 2030, with over 200 000 people already trained in digital skills programmes across the country.
