INFORMATION POLICY IN TANZANIA

Information policy determines the kind of information collected, created, organized, stored, accessed, disseminated and retained. Who can use the information, whether there will be charges for access, and the amount charged, is also covered. Usually associated with government information, information policy also establishes the rules within which private information providers and the media operate. Information policy includes the following areas:

• literacy
• privatization and distribution of government
• information
• freedom of information access
• protection of personal privacy
• intellectual property rights
• retention of archival copies of material
• Citizen's Charter of Information Rights  (BCLA Information Policy Committee, 1995)

In Tanzania we have no Information per se which stand alone but they depend on other policies. There are several policies which relate such as ICT policy, Education policies, transport policies, economic policies.

The effort which have been taken to establish information Policy in Tanzania is as follows: The National Information Communication Technology Policy (NICTP) development process for Tanzania started in the year 2000 as a result of the perceived lack of guidance on ICT. The lack of ICT Policy and existence of isolated initiatives led to random adoption of different systems and standards, resulting in unnecessary duplication of effort hence wastage of resources. Benefits of effective adoption of ICT are likely to result not only in an increase in connectivity or access, but more importantly benefits acquired from the facilitation of new types of development solutions and economic opportunities that the utilization.

Developing a National Information Communication Technology Policy (NICTP) of a country is vital for the development of a nation.

Tanzania recognized that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is a key accelerator to development, that is why NICTP was enacted by parliament in 2003, and what followed was its implementation. So far tremendous progress has been made including liberalization of the sector. Although it is more than 7 years the ICT sector has changed quite significantly; there is a need to review all stages of the policy and finally come up with suggestions for improvements. This paper looks into the process of reviewing the Tanzania NICTP by applying the benchmarking process as a supporting tool for policy making. The paper illustrates the analysis carried out and the results from five relatively successful countries, namely Australia, Estonia, Malaysia, Mauritius and Singapore in ICT policy formulation, policy focus areas and policy implementation. Besides the policy process and stakeholder‘s involvement, the ICT policy goals, objectives and mission are discussed. The institutional arrangements for driving the ICT policy at regional and international dimensions, as well as the implementation processes, policy review and monitoring are elaborated. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations on how the policy review processes should be carried out.

The term ICT refers to forms of technology that are used for communication and to transmit, store, create, share or exchange information. The broad definition of ICT includes technologies such as; radio, television, video, telephone (fixed and mobile), computer and network hardware and software as well as the equipment and services associated with these technologies.

TANZANIA is currently reviewing its information and communication technology (ICT) policy of 2003 in order to enhance safety and security against cyber-related crimes. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology, (Makungu, 2013), said safety, security and standardization were among pillars to be included in the new policy."The public and future generations need to be educated on the use of ICT in a safe and responsible manner."

Therefore in Tanzania there is no policy per se but depend on other policies especially ICT. Developing an Information Communication Technology Policy (ICTP) of a country is vital for the development of a nation.

Reference

International Journal of Computing and ICT Research, Vol. 5, No.2, December 2011