KABWE URGES BUSINESSES TO PARTNER WITH ICT EXPERTS

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

INFORMATION and Communication Technology (ICT) has become the backbone of many businesses nowadays and it is critical that sector players strengthen partnerships with ICT experts, Information Communications Technology Association of Zambia (ICTAZ) Committee Board Member Abel Kabwe has said.

Mr. Kabwe told The Scoop that ICT was important for businesses to survive, compete, and grow but that if not implemented well, could be disastrous to the business hence the need to have collaborations with ICT experts for business growth purposes.

He said that for any business to be effective, there was a need for driving forces that made it easy to conduct and that those forces included the application of ICTs to conduct business among SMEs and their trade.

“ICT has an impact on every part of the business from production, supply chains, marketing and sales, and business communication. There are many advantages of ICT like cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and security. But if not implemented properly, ICT can be disastrous to businesses because of disadvantages such the high initial cost of implementation, unemployment, lack of human touch, and cyber-attacks.

“It is important that the business community engages qualified ICT experts to prevent cyber-attacks on a business. As many countries including Zambia are promoting digitized financial platforms, it is critical that businesses embracing the digitization of systems work hand in hand with ICT experts, ” he added.

He said that the Government should continue to put in place deliberate policies which supported the investment in ICTs as it had an important role to play in the growth of the economy.

He said that it was commendable that through the 8th National Development Plan (8NDP), the Government recognized the legal and institutional reforms to facilitate universal access to ICT and promote the use of ICT in business (e-Commerce); networking of services and applications across the public sector and online access to the Government services.

He said that through appropriate use of ICT, Small businesses could compare with major market players and compete for the same customers.

He said that (ICT) and e-business applications provided many benefits across a wide range of intra- and inter-firm business processes and transactions and that partnerships with well-established ICT experts remained crucial.