The impact of COVID-19 has really sent shock waves and changed the way we live. For the COVID-19 curve to flatten or better still control the spread, the Ministry of health encouraged people to stay home and engage in social distancing. This means finding alternative to do our daily transaction. And this is where the digital space (or IT) comes in.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times- ZBT, Information and Communication Technology Association of Zambia (ICTAZ) National Secretary Mulenga Sichangwa says that though we may have been pushed to use ICTs more by the pandemic, the ITC or digital space must be used or improved on.
Our expectation and hope is to see the 2021 budget that will be presented by the Finance Minister, to build on this path that we are on. We may have been pushed into it because of circumstances, but the circumstances present opportunities themselves.
We see the way parliament itself is conducting business, we saw it on the presidential address and how top leadership at government is holding meetings with other neighboring countries through digital solutions like Zoom, they are able to conduct their businesses now remotely more than ever. So we would like to see that in the budget so that we are able to foster that development.
Furthermore, Sichangwa says that we as a country must build on the new way of doing business through the digital space as the world is turning into one big computer.
“We mustn’t say that we want to go back to the old ways because we obviously do from a health and safety position, but I think now this should be that drive to make us take this digital transition more seriously at all levels of the country from the top right up to the bottom an should just be the responsibility of the ICT service providers but for all of us as citizens”, he said.
International and local travel costs have been shrinked as people now engage in online meetings. Video conferencing is now being undertaken by both public and private institutions. These benefits should be retained in Zambia.
