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coordination and harmonization, in 2001, the government appointed the Ministry of Communication and Transport as the national ICT coordinator
and a focal point of all ICT related issues. The main tasks of the ministry communication and transport were to formulate and prepare the national ICT
policy document that will guide the provision of ICT services in Tanzania, and to recommend a suitable and sustainable
institutional setup which will be responsible for the facilitation of ict services to all sectors of the
economy. The ministry is also required to create a conducive environment that encourages growth of public-private partnership in ict development.
Over the years Tanzania has achieved notable progress in deploying ict. The achievement was a result of various adjustments since early nineties in
policy, regulatory and commercial facets, both macroeconomic and within ICTs converging sector. The private sector has certainly contributed to these
achievements by investing in among others, support facilities, training centers and sales outlets. These efforts have enabled government
departments, institutions of learning, non-governmental organizations NGOs, as well as other private entrepreneurs, to acquire ict solutions that
address their individual problems more appropriately. The plan is to integrate ict into Tanzania’s national development plan aiming at improving
the living standard and quality of life of Tanzanians and creating a more informed society.
3.2 Status Of ICT In Tanzania
Tanzania has made remarkable progress in deploying ict. This progress has been well received by the citizens and service providers who striving to
address unmet demand and competition in newly liberalized markets. This chapter summarizes the current status of ict in Tanzania and highlights the
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gaps that need to be addressed to position the country appropriately for the new knowledge-based society.
3.2.1 The National ICT Programmes and Projects
Main focus of the ongoing initiatives and projects is on Internet connectivity and information dissemination through the Internet or public databases.
Target groups for these activities are often rural population, women and youth. There are also ongoing projects to facilitate the transformation of
University and its administration towards IT. Few projects have the goal to give direct support in private sector development, and the role of the private
sector as an engine in transformation of the society is very little discussed. So is the need of professionals to make the technology work. The use of
Internet and information dissemination through Internet is easy for the user and demands little training. But this ease of use does not mean that the
technology itself is easy and uncomplicated. On the contrary, a successful implementation of IT in every day use requires people who are able to
manage computers, networks, software and contents. In the plan to improve the use of ICT in the country the Tanzania
Commission for Science and Technology COSTECH in collaboration with the International Institute for Communication and Development IICD,
established programmes and projects in 20022003 to foster the deployment and use ICT equipments. These projects includes: Tanzania National ICT
Policy, Capacity Building of the National ICT Coordination office, Strengthening of ICT Policies in Africa – A Case of Tanzania, ICT
Infrastructure and e –Readiness Assessment for Tanzania, eThink Tank Tanzania, etc.
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Tanzania National ICT Policy
The main objective of this project was to have the national ICT policy in place with Mission and Vision.
The ministry of communication and transport coordinated this project, since, it is the national coordinator and a focal point of all ICT related activities.
The ministry formed a task force of 15 members to do that task with support from the government of Sweden.
Capacity Building of the National ICT Coordination office The objectives of this project were to:
Strengthen the capacity of the national ICT coordination office staff for effective and efficient delivery of ICT services to user
Renovation of the coordination office Provide the coordination office with working equipments for
improved
performance Strengthening office documentation system
The ministry of communication and transport coordinated even this project. The ministry formed a 17 members national ICT task force led by Prof.
Mathew Luhanga, Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar-es-Salaam. The task force was charged with tasks of working out modalities and strategies
for the establishment and deployment of ICT in Tanzania. This included formulation of a suitable ICT policy and recommend for an efficient national
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ICT institution that will carry out the role of coordinating, planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of national
ICT project activities.
Strengthening of ICT policies in Africa- a case of Tanzania
The main objective of this study was to strengthen the national information and communication technology ICT policy for the purpose of providing an
enabling environment for effective development of ICTs for sustainable development in Tanzania. This study, intended to identify national
governance, equity and institutional issues, basic regulatory principles and suggest some guidelines for reviewing public telecommunication policy as
well as ICT policy that will provide an enabling environment for the sector to move forward.
ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment for Tanzania
The main objective of this project was to measure the capacity of Tanzania to participate in the digital economy.
The project had a national scope and was expected to cover top leadership in all government ministries, 15 administrative regions, 18 districts, 46 public
institutions and public sector. The assessment also covered about 1000 people randomly picked from all walks of life, paper clipping from selected
dailyweekly newspapers, and other secondary sources.
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eThink Tank Tanzania
The eThink Tank was formed on 8th February 2000 in the meeting attended by 5 participants, with the aim of creating a clear national direction on ICT
matters in Tanzania. eThink Tank is a virtual organization with no formal structure or staff, relying on volunteers and partnerships to achieve its goals.
However, specific partnerships have resulted in resources or facilities being provided to achieve specific ends. In this regard a diverse array of partners
have included: CATS, Civil Service Department, Costech, Government of
Italy, IICD, KPMG, MOCT, Raha.com, SIDA, Tansoft, UNDP, and World
Bank. eThinkers are representing Tanzania’s interests at the highest level of national and international or global fora. Some of the global for a include
the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization, G8 DOT Force, the UN ICT Task Force and many more including conferences, workshops, etc.
ICT Learning and Management Improvement in Teachers Colleges
The main objective of this project was to enable all teachers colleges students to be ICT –literate when finishing their studies and for teacher
education to use the benefits of ICT as a teaching and learning tool.
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Distance Learning and Education Services
The main aim of this project is to use the Internet and other information and communication technology’s facilities to improve the quality and access to
educational materials to secondary schools children in Tanzania. Distance Education for secondary schools provides up-country schools with
learning material and tutoring on-line from the central information center. To date, more than 600,000 students have already benefited with the project,
while an estimate of 8,500 types of learning materials are expected to be bought by the end users for the period of the project which is five years.
Teachers’ Professional Development
The objective of this project is to train teachers on how to use ICT to improve teaching and learning process at schools including the teachers’
colleges. The main intension is to cover the gap related to lack of textbooks both at teachers’ colleges and schools.
The African Virtual University at UDSM
The main aim of the project was to increase access to relevant, cost effective and flexible tertiary education and training throughout Africa by leveraging
ICTs. The learning center is facilitating the delivery of African Virtual University AVU facilitated degrees, diplomas, certificates and short
courses in areas: Information and Communication Technology, Journalism, Business Management, Accounting and Languages .
Tanzania Development Gateway
The main aim of this project is to bridge the digital divide for Tanzania’s knowledge sharing networks, and other relevant partners, enabling a broad
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array of stake holders to partner network, share and exchange knowledge and other resources.
This project is an Internet portal that provides and promotes exchange and dissemination of information on development matters. It assists Tanzania to
take advantage of the most important aspects of the Internet, and build the ability to capture and disseminate information services consistently across
Tanzania. One of the underlying purpose of the gateway is the provision of online resources to promote and support grassroots initiatives by current and
potential website owners to work together towards making each other more productive in achieving their respective objectives.
Tanzania Internet Exchange
Tanzania Internet Service Providers Association TISPA undertook this project with the following objectives:
To establish internet infrastructure in Tanzania To route local traffic locally
To reduce dependence on international links
Tanzania Internet service providers ISPsare all connected to the Internet abroad over slow and expensive links. In order to solve this problem, ISPs in
Tanzania are encouraged to exchange traffic between each other on local level and not route it through international gateways.
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3.3 The overall ict environment in Tanzania.
