TELECOMMUNICATIONS provider Africom says government should provide the required laws and policies to encourage the growth of the digital economy.
A World Bank report estimates that in 2016, the global digital economy was valued at US$11,5 trillion, or 15,5% of the world gross domestic product of that year, showing that business development and wealth creation now largely depend on digital economies.
But due to a lack of infrastructure, an enabling regulatory environment and unclear frameworks for the implementation of digital entrepreneurship policies, Zimbabwe has failed to fully capitalise on the opportunities presented by the digital economy.
“Government needs to develop the necessary policy and legislative framework to support the development of the digital economy,” Africom chief executive Rudo Mudavanhu said during a presentation on smart digital economies at a recent ICT conference in Victoria Falls.
“An inter-ministerial framework that will monitor implementation through the various State departments and agencies, review of the digital economy policy documents is crucial.”
The Africom chief said the digital transformation of society required a paradigm shift in data policy because data was the basic raw material in the digital economy.
“More and more aspects of business and society are being measured and evaluated, connected and marketed in an increasing degree of complexity and differentiation. Avoiding data collection and storage can no longer be our guiding principle.
“On the contrary, the prevailing data security issues will involve individual “informational autonomy” in the future. Private individuals and companies must be confident that their data is protected from abuse,” she said.
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Consumers and users must have the freedom to choose how their data is utilised, she opined.
According to Mudavanhu, the idea of a digital regulatory policy must recognise that digitisation is a business endeavour, therefore, space must be made available for the creation of innovative products, venture capital investments and new data-based services.
She further stated that there was a need to establish a trustworthy and impartial framework in relation to concerns like liability law, copyright law, and fair competition.
“All digital business models should be part of open and innovative competition. This requires the need to eliminate isolated solutions, privileges, discrimination and “lock-in” practices. A requirement to push the process of creating binding norms and standards becomes imperative,” she said.
Mudavanhu added that data security and informational autonomy was a prerequisite for the acceptability and success of a data-driven economy.
