TCRA urges innovators to seize opportunities
DAR ES SALAAM: THE Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has urged Tanzanian innovators and start-ups to seize opportunities to test their projects under a program managed by the authority.
TCRA Director General, Dr. Jabiri Bakari, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that participants can use communication resources free of charge for up to three months.
Dr Bakari revealed that the authority assigns communication numbers, codes, frequencies, and internet addresses to entrepreneurs with innovations designed to contribute to Tanzania’s digital economy agenda.
An example is shortcode *146*XX, which is assigned and temporarily issued for testing information and communications technologies (ICT) applications, he said.
Dr Bakari emphasized the significance of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2024 and International Girls in ICT Day events, recently marked in the country.
He stated that these events are some of the best platforms for cultivating a culture of building a digitally literate society enabled by ICT solutions.
May 17 of each year marks the day when the treaty under which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was signed in 1865.
This year’s theme is ‘Digital innovations for sustainable development’. Girls in ICT Day is marked every fourth Thursday of April to promote science, technology, and mathematics (STEM) among girls and young women and inspire women to embrace careers in ICT.
The 2024 rallying statement was ‘leadership’. Dr Bakari added that besides promoting ICT startups, TCRA also supports and encourages schools and tertiary institutions to promote students’ digital literacy to promote STEM.
Tanzania, through TCRA, actively participated in and contributed to international ICT development initiatives and programmes.
It is a member of the Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. Tanzania is also among six African countries where ITU has established Network Acceleration Centers. The others are Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Gabon, and Senegal.
The centers are designed to accelerate digital transformation in the respective countries through broad stakeholder engagement and full utilisation of resources. Their purpose is to enhance capabilities to boost innovation and the digitization of economies.
Tanzania is implementing a programme to mainstream digital applications in all sectors of its economy. According to ITU, digital solutions can enable countries to realise up to 70 per cent of programs under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (MDG) by 2030.
MDGs seek to reduce income poverty, hunger, diseases, inadequate shelter, and exclusion. They also have targets for promoting gender equality, health, education, and environmental sustainability.
