Africa tipped on ICT use

Sep 10, 2008

THE increasing number of people using information and communication technologies (ICTs), is a big step towards empowerment and development, Chris Kabwato, the Highway Africa, director, said on Monday.

By David Muwanga
in South Africa


THE increasing number of people using information and communication technologies (ICTs), is a big step towards empowerment and development, Chris Kabwato, the Highway Africa, director, said on Monday.

“Mobile phone technology and its dramatic penetration in Africa and the whole world, has opened a myriad of possibilities for empowering the ordinary citizens to access information and generate content,” he said.

Kabwato was opening the 12th edition of the Highway Africa’s two-day conference at Rhodes University, South Africa.

The conference under the theme: “Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens,” attracted 700 ICTs journalists across Africa.

Kabwato said mobile technology services can no longer be viewed simply as tools for social networking, but as platforms for ordinary people to produce and distribute the news.

“The advent of citizen journalism means that audiences not only consume media, but are able to generate and publish it too, using popular online platforms such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube,” he said.

The New Vision chief, Robert Kabushenga, was a panelist.

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