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agencies operating at provincial level, such as the State
Information Technology Agency, the Small Enterprise
Development Agency, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research Meraka Institute.
One important goal is to identify, even at the preparatory stage,
the possibilities for creating interlinkage between different
provinces in South Africa. It is essential to address the possibil-
ity of learning from more advantaged and developed provinces,
such as the Western Cape with its e-innovation programme. The
programme is therefore expected to leverage best practices, both
in content and in collaboration with other South African provinces
participating in the drafting process under the PNC.
The ISAD plan in Limpopo and the Northern Cape
In Limpopo, the emphasis will be placed on the ICT-enabled
and facilitated development of industrial value clusters, as iden-
tified in the Limpopo’s Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy. Work will also focus on interweaving these industrial
value clusters with one another, in order to form a competitive
provincial economy. The Limpopo Provincial Government puts
heavy emphasis on industrial value clustering in its socioeco-
nomic development strategy, and the Limpopo Provincial ISAD
plan needs to indicate how ICT could help accelerate the devel-
opment of these industrial value clusters. Over and above this,
the Limpopo provincial ISAD plan and implementation strat-
egy must take into account the areas of focus highlighted by the
State President of South Africa, namely e-governance, e-educa-
tion, e-health, local content development, and the participation
of SMMEs in the Information Society. A start has been made in
Mogalakwena through the deployment of ICT facilities in rural,
underdeveloped and under-serviced villages by the
Mogalakwena HP i-community project. The provincial ISAD
plan needs to leverage the lessons learned there and to use ICT
as a socioeconomic development multiplier all over the Limpopo
province.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government began the devel-
opment of its Provincial Growth and Development Strategy
(NCPGDS) in 2004. One major challenge facing the
Government is to promote economic growth and job creation
while providing for social development to address the needs of
the poor. To this end, the main rationale for the NCPGDS is to
enable all stakeholders from the public, private and parastatal
sectors, together with labour and civil society, to jointly deter-
mine a strategy for the sustainable growth and development of
the provincial economy. The overall objective of improved access
to information and services, enhanced opportunities for commu-
nication, and business opportunities for all beneficiary groups
through an efficient and effective use of ICT in the Northern
Cape Province, is linked to the broader framework of the social,
economic and technological development of the Northern Cape
Province.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government has developed its
own ICT strategy, looking at its own systems and capacities, and
developing strategies to address its own shortcomings. There is
currently no sector-specific strategy that encompasses all provin-
cial stakeholders, but recent advances in ICT provide an
opportunity for growth and development on a number of levels.
Firstly, from a narrow communications perspective, ICT enhances
the efficiency of doing business in an increasingly competitive
global economy. Secondly, from a broader industry perspective,
ICT offers opportunity for growth and development through the
promotion of businesses that provide ICT goods and services.
But at the same time, equal access to ICT is not enjoyed by all,
and the divide between rich and poor is widening. Lack of access
to ICT can constrain growth and productivity, with a potentially
negative impact on the development of individuals and regions.
Steps must therefore be taken to avoid this outcome.
The NCPGDS will provide the province with a sustainable and
human-centred Information Society that serves its stakeholders
and partners. Special attention will be paid to the development
of economic opportunities for SMMEs, and to raising people’s
awareness, motivation, access, capabilities and support so they
can benefit fully from the opportunities provided by the
Information Society:
• Awareness – the knowledge of people and SMMEs concern-
ing the possibilities offered by Information Society services
• Motivation – the motivation of people and SMMEs to use
Information Society services. These services should ease
people’s everyday lives, and they must be easy to use
• Access – the accessibility of terminals and networks to
people and SMMEs
• Capabilities – the skills and competence of people and
SMMEs to fully utilize the available Information Society
services and information. The availability of Information
Society-related services, both to people and SMMEs, forms
part of the Information Society’s capabilities
• Support – refers to the sustainability of Information Society-
related support measures, both for people and SMMEs.
Innovation framework programme
Since September 2004, the Embassy of Finland in Pretoria has
been discussing the establishment of a programme within the
South African DST to support the development of South African
national and provincial innovation systems. The initiative, focused
on cooperation in the field, dates back to reciprocal visits between
the two countries between 2001 and 2002 which resulted in a
partnership between the DST and the Embassy of Finland to
develop a framework for cooperation in national and regional
A typical rural school in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Information
society strategy emphasizes knowledge as a driver for development
Photo: Jyrki Pulkkinen