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tional links. More attention will be given to the role of ICT in devel-
opment, along the lines envisaged by the Prime Minister of Finland,
Mr Paavo Lipponen and the President of South Africa, Mr Thabo
Mbeki during their meetings in 2000 and 2002. All new bilateral
programmes will therefore focus on developing capacity in the
Information Society.
Cooperation in the field of ICT and innovation has taken off
since. Already between 2000 and 2004, new projects and
programmes including ICT components have been prepared and
mobilized. In the field of education, the Scope programme
promoted the use of ICT in teaching as well as in special educa-
tion, and was implemented in two South African provinces. The
recently launched Higher Education Support Programme is
supporting the restucturing of the South African higher educa-
tion system. The vision of South Africa’s Ministry of Education,
and the overall objective of this intervention, are to develop a
tansformed, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist system of
hgher education. Finnish support will be provided through three
components:
• ICT back-office establishment and training support to the
merger process
• Development of quality assurance at the merged institutions
• Research and collaboration aimed at providing research related
to ICT and quality assurance and providing interaction between
the main components.
This third element will also create interaction between Finnish
and South African institutions.
A capacity-building programme for ICT in the South African
Development Community (SADC) secretariat has also been imple-
mented. During 2005, the focus of preparatory work has been
on developing programmes to support the planning processes of
Information Society strategies at national and provincial levels in
South Africa, as well as to assist in the establishment of a specific
programme to support the development of a South African
national and provincial innovation system with the South African
Department of Science and Technology (DST).
In his State of the Nation address in February 2001, President
Mbeki announced the establishment of the Presidential National
Commission on Information Society and Development (PNC on
ISAD). This body is mandated to advise on various issues relating
to the development of an Information Society. The PNC on ISAD
submitted its final draft report in January 2004, just after the first
phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
The PNC on ISAD works in cooperation with provincial and
national governments, national government bodies, and private
companies. Its current aim is to develop a common understand-
ing of an ISAD plan for the future among the different stakeholder
groups. Since December 2004, the Embassy of Finland in Pretoria
has been participating in the development of a national ISAD plan
and implementation, under the leadership of the PNC on ISAD.
The PNC recommended a phased approach to the development
of a national ISAD plan and implementation strategy, which
would incorporate a long-term vision for the country as a whole
within the timelines agreed at the December 2003 WSIS in
Geneva. The ISAD plan and implementation strategy should natu-
rally include the corresponding and complementary national,
provincial, local government and public entities plans, along
sectoral lines and consistent with government-approved cluster
priorities for economic and social development.
In this context, the Embassy of Finland agreed with the PNC
and provincial governments of the Northern Cape and Limpopo
to identify the priorities for cooperation in the provincial
Information Society plan and its implementation strategy. The
priorities established will be based on the needs identified in the
provincial growth and development strategies. The provincial-
level partnership is extended to include national institutions and
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Some of the Northern Cape schools still struggle with learning resources
and there are too many learners in classrooms. ICT could help this
school in the Northern Cape substantially by providing access to
learning materials and by developing learner-centred learning methods
Photo: Jyrki Pulkkinen
Internet access is still usually organized via modem in South African
schools. It is many times too expensive and too slow for schools.
National policy and regulations on ICT are needed to make ICT
affordable in schools
Photo: Jyrki Pulkkinen