By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
CLOUD computing and big data were   last week the subject of a high-tech road show brought to Zambia by a leading global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provider Huawei Technologies.
The global leader behind many of Zambia’s most important communication projects   was introducing the latest technological advances aimed at increasing efficiencies and enhancing affordability in the delivery of data solutions in the country.
Minister of Transport and Communications Kapembwa Simbao said  Government was on course with the implementation of electronic commerce.
This would be through the provision of appropriate workable strategies that focus on development of broadband infrastructure, digital content, human capacity and supporting innovation by both public and private sector organisations
The Minister said Government, under a project called Smart Zambia Phase one, had embarked on the construction of its national data centre,  public ICT training facilities and teleconferencing facilities.
He said the investments would spur utilisation of ICTs, generation of local digital content and innovations in the sector.
Huawei Technology Zambia country director Emilion Ming said, countries around the world including Zambia have entered into a new era of in-depth integration of ICTs, changing the way the organisation’s deliver on demand services to the public,  how governments operate and how institutions manage their businesses.
Huawei introduced 3G technology to Zambia in 2009, and has this year signed a contract for the second phase of the project to design, supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of communication towers in underserved and unserved areas in Zambia.
“Thanks to the Government’s foresight and Huawei’s technology, in the near future, everyone in Zambia will be able to enjoy modern telecommunication technology equally and conveniently,” Mr Ming said.
The Huawei roadshow – under the theme ‘Smart Zambia, Smart Nation’ gave government and industry experts the opportunity to see latest developments at first hand and learn more about the application and benefits.
Representatives from government and the private sector heard how they can benefit through new advancements in IT “cloud” technology in the coming years.
The cloud market in particular is expected to continue performing strongly in 2016, spurred by the growing maturity of the Zambian ICT market and the increase in the number of companies using cloud services.
With much more data being generated today in Zambia compared with 10 years ago, participants recognise that much of the technology deployed previously wasn’t designed to cope with the size and variety of data types that exists today.
Huawei has in the last 12 years supported the development of Zambia’s telecommunications industry and is currently one of the leading pioneers within Zambia’s technology sector, providing the most comprehensive IT portfolio in the industry to customers in the telecom, enterprise and consumer space.