iWeek 2006: Mark Shuttleworth, Director, HBD Venture Capital

Topic: Challenges and strategies in ICT regulation in Africa:

Mark Shuttleworth made his first appearance at iWeek and provided delegates with the lessons from other emerging markets. If South Africa is to succeed in providing Internet access more affordably, we can learn a lot from South Korea. They have the world’s cheapest broadband access. Spain is a successful use of computers in classrooms running on free and open source software. In addition, Brazil have more multimedia telecenters for teaching digital literacy and allows the creation of multimedia that highlights their cultural history. Indonesia believes Open Source is central to to ICT strategy. Some of the leading role models in emerging markets on ICT usage globally are India, China and Taiwan.

Mark touched on some more pressing topical issues within a growing community of ISPs in South Africa. He reminded the ISPA that if South Africa is to succeed, skills development should be the most important issue addressed. The need to broaden participation in the regulation of the Internet remains critical. Traditionally, governments have dominated the market, making it harder for new role players in the industry.

As most ISPs are concerned with their survival, the question of making a profit should be measured in line with the idea of putting people first. In other words, the ISP should also drive towards social responsibility and thus broaden access to these technologies. Even more pressing is the need for management skills and not only technical skills. As communities continue to tell their stories through technologies, ISPs and the government must work closely together to speed up the rollout of Internet access.