Khanty-Mansiysk - Communications Minister Faith Muthambi says with the current information revolution, media literacy and open government needs to gain momentum.
“The information revolution is a defining phenomenon of our times; affecting work, life and society as profoundly as the Industrial Revolution did in the 19th Century. Media literacy and open government also needs to gain momentum.
“There is a rather concerning trend that we are noting, especially in the context of the developing world, and that is while technology continues to evolve, the digital divide still stubbornly persists.
“The end result is that there are severe restrictions in people’s ability to harness the power of information to effectively improve their social and economic well-being, and thus live sustainably,” she said.
Minister Muthambi was speaking at the opening of the VIII International Information Technology (IT)-Forum in Khanty-Mansiysk, on Wednesday, where 40 member states are participating in the 8th Brazil, Russia, India, China and South African (BRICS) and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation IT Forum.
“It is an exciting moment, an opportunity of getting together, learning from each other and exchanging ideas that we can adapt and modify in our respective countries, as part of efforts to continually improve the way we govern and serve our people,” she said.
The conference has a thought-provoking theme: ‘Media and Information Literacy for Building A Culture of Open Government’. Minister Muthambi said the theme covers a wide range of topics relating to the rapidly evolving information, communications and technology space.
Minister Muthambi said the objective of the Forum is to afford participating member countries a platform for discussing how governments – at all spheres – can harness technology to improve the lives of people.
“One of the aims of these gatherings is for us to share best practices on how we can use IT to improve how we govern, and how we can form beneficial partnerships between governments, civil society and business for the greater good of our citizens.
“Additionally, this Forum seeks to facilitate the signing of cooperation agreements between participating members. The end goal is to help us become better and efficient governments,” she said.
She further said one issue that looms large is that of children and the youth – and what needs to be done to balance their need to access media and IT to learn and better their lives, against the predatory risks that seek to rob them of their youthful innocence.
“This is a topic that we should give our best attention, more so at this occasion when we have so many influential people under one roof, and clearly passionate about technology.
“We can do a lot by ourselves but together we can attain greater achievements.
“We are all here as member states participating in this IT Forum, to tap into each other’s energy levels, knowledge and ideas to help ensure that we use the power of technology to brighten our future,” she said. - SAnews.gov.za
