ICT Minister calls for inclusive digital revolution at Disability Conference

By Ilyana Sithole

The Honorable Tatenda Mavetera, ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister gave an impassioned and moving speech yesterday at the Telecommunications and Disability Conference hosted by the Raregold Resort and Conference Centre. The minister, in her speech, referenced the government’s commitment to having a digitally inclusive Zimbabwe that does not exclude anybody based on capacity.

Minister Mavetera started by expressing appreciation to the honorables guests invited, such as CEOs of major telecommunications stakeholders such as Dark Fibre Africa (Mr. S. Chimutsotso) and NetOne (Eng. R. Mushanawani), special invitees from disability advocacy organizations such as the Divine Active Mentorship Initiative led by Dr. Chitando, and top government officials. She thanked the organizers for hosting such a vital discussion, indicating that the intersection of telecommunications and disability was a very important field for development.

Guided by President Mnangagwa’s appeal to place the most vulnerable first, Minister Mavetera underscored that access to Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) is not just a luxury but a universal human right for a productive participation in society. “For too long, individuals with disabilities have encountered barriers which restricted access and participation and to living a life of dignity and independence,” she said, sounding very much like global icons such as Stevie Wonder, a strong advocate that all things must be accessible to all individuals with a disability.

The Minister recognized the immense progress made by the Ministry and POTRAZ in enabling institutions that engage with individuals with disabilities. Nevertheless, she added that much still needs to be done in bridging the digital divide that increasingly hits this group of individuals. Inaccessible websites and mobile applications, limited use of assistive technologies, and the inaffordability of adaptive devices were pointed out as major issues of concern that must be dealt with at speed.

Minister Mavetera outlined several key initiatives the government is actively pursuing to create a more inclusive digital ecosystem. These include:
* Policy Review: Aligning Zimbabwe’s National Disability Policy and the National ICT Policy with clear accessibility standards and guidelines to ensure all new technologies and services are designed with inclusivity in mind.
* Encouraging Assistive Technologies: Incentivizing investment into their development and implementation as affordable and accessible assistive technologies, possibly through subsidization, of screen readers, hearing aid compatible devices, and braille displays.
* Infrastructure Investment: Increasing access to the internet for marginalized populations, such as communities with high densities of people with disabilities, so that all infrastructure investment is accessibility guideline-driven. The Minister was particular in emphasizing a requirement that all Community Information Centres have at least one braille software-enabled machine.
* Training and Awareness: Conducting public awareness campaigns in order to make the public aware of the importance of digital accessibility and conducting training workshops for developers, designers, and content developers on how to develop accessible digital experiences, according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
* Partnership: Collaborating with disability groups, the private sector, universities, and international partners in co-developing solutions that empower, employ, and advance people with disabilities. Minister Mavetera challenged innovators to collaborate with people with disabilities and not only for them but urged the private sector to allocate a quota for individuals living with disabilities within their company.

The Minister declared vehemently, “As your Minister of ICT, I stand here today with a clear mandate: No one should be left behind in the digital age. Our policies will guarantee that accessibility is not an afterthought, but a guiding principle in every digital effort we undertake.” She underscored the necessity of avoiding disability planning for people with disabilities in exclusionary manners, and rather support for the partnership model where their experiences and voices lie at the core of the unlocking of solutions.

Minister Mavetera ended her speech with an inspirational call to action, calling upon all the stakeholders – policymakers, industry captains, researchers, advocates, and individuals with disabilities – to sit down, converse in a transparent and open manner, and bring their expertise to the table. Citing Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much,” and Stephen Hawking, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at,” she set out her hope that together, Zimbabwe can build a future of digital inclusion where technology liberates everyone’s potential.

The conference is the giant stride towards this vision, with Minister Mavetera’s speech providing a bold and straightforward agenda for an open, inclusive, and unstoppable digital revolution in Zimbabwe.