Prof Patrick Makungu, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology
In an interview with this paper shortly after opening the cyber security conference in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology Prof Patrick Makungu said in order to protect people from cyber security, the government has to tackle all problems considered as major threat in national governance around the world.
“As we know the issue of cyber security has no boundaries, so it is our responsibility as nations to work together towards enhancement of our systems and protecting information so as to ensure adequacy and security around cyber infrastructure and content,” he said.
He added: “On behalf of the government through the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, it is my pleasure to join you today to discuss imperative issues for the international community which calls for coordinated action at both national and international levels.
He noted that the global growth in ICTs has greatly influenced human interactions saying: “bridging the ‘digital divide’ has been of utmost concern for us in recent years.”
“With almost two thirds of the global population still offline and a daunting gap of around 60 percent in internet penetration between Africa and Europe, we know that many challenges still remain, however – with hard work and concerted efforts, we will overcome these challenges, and we’ll be able to ensure digital inclusion so that everyone, everywhere, can enjoy the benefits and opportunities of connectivity,” he stated.
In Tanzania, ICT has brought catalytic and economic development. The government has made significant progress in enabling more use of ICT through improving national broadband connectivity envisaging massive use of ICT services.
From 2009, the government decided to invest heavily in creating a broadband ready Tanzania through National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) Project”
He revealed that the NICTBB is being implemented in five phases whereby phase I and II are complete and with a total of 7,560km live backbone. The backbone is present at regional level and our government is continuing with its plans to create high internet performance and data traffic including establishment of huge data centers as Phase III of the NICTBB Project.
“In these initiatives the government is currently working hand in hand with the private sector in a Public Private Partnership arrangement to construct Metro fiber networks as Phase IV and which is the last mile connectivity in all urban areas of Tanzania. And finally efforts will be directed to last mile connectivity in all other areas in Phase V of the NICTBB,” he said.
He added: “Through our NICTBB, we are already connected to two major submarine cables of SEACOM (July, 2009) and EASSY (April, 2010) extending the connectivity to the neighbouring countries through high capacity cross-border virtual stations. The virtual landing stations of the submarine cables on the NICTBB are located at the respective cross-border points of Rwanda (at Rusumo station), Uganda (Mtukula station), Malawi (Kasumulo station), Zambia (Tunduma station) and Kenya (Namanga, Sirari and Horohoro stations).”
Further, he said that greater connectivity also brings with it greater risk, such as the risk of losing trust and confidence in the networks we rely on; and the risk of losing trust and confidence in our ability to communicate securely.
The loss of trust and confidence compromises the benefits of ICTs as an enabler of global socio-economic development. It may also undermine business opportunities, investments and economic efficiencies.
To address this challenge, the URT established the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (EPOCA) in 2010 followed by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Regulations in 2011 that empowered the responsible Minister to establish CERT, he said.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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