Digital space conversation: We have a long way to go

Digital space is one of the most recent innovations of our time, which has made virtual reality a reality. Perhaps, if one could have talked of a wide world web in another age and time, one could have been deemed mad. But it is a daily reality of life today.

The importance of the conversation introduced by the Mwananchi Thought Leadership Forum (MTLF) about digital space cannot be gainsaid. The most recent forum organised by Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) had a theme, “Leave no one behind: Uniting to bridge the digital chasm in Tanzania”.

To me, one of the most vital highlights was Information, Communication and Information Technology Minister Nape Nnauye admitting that the internet has reached a point to be taken as a human right.

The indication by the government that it might start considering the provision of the internet as a human right means we have come a long way. When we talk about digital space, it is about the use of the internet.

At the moment there are a good number of services one cannot access if not in the digital space. For example, business registration in Tanzania is done online. The Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (Brela), an executive government agency, has digitalised business registration and related services that have increased efficiency and eliminated corruption encouraged by bureaucracy.

The Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra), a government regulatory authority, for transporters even in remote areas, the only way to get a licence is to login into their website.

Those are just two examples of public services you cannot get without a presence in digital space. In the higher education sector, registration, invoicing, exams, results and so on, in one way or the other, have an online component. This means without the internet, most activities at universities can come to a halt.

As the nation talks of wealth, the ownership, presence and usage of digital space have become a vital sector. In the past, we used to talk of real estate wealth, but now virtual reality wealth cannot be ignored.

A number of topmost world billionaires gained their wealth thanks to virtual reality. For instance, Jeffrey Bezos, an American entrepreneur who is the founder and executive chairman of Amazon. Talk of Bill Gates of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (now Meta) etc has made billions of USD out of using the digital space.

Even Tanzania, Andron Mendes, reported by The Citizen as a billionaire, his clean energy innovation, which he sold KopaGas, its heart is the use of internet technology.

To cut a long story short, in the virtual reality matrix, one common factor is the internet. By our own standards, the internet is an expensive commodity and only middle-class groups afford it all the time. For the rest, most of the time they do without, and when need be, they buy small bundles for use.

For those who are able to afford the internet most of the time, the quality of services from the main service providers for the masses is wanting.

We have a long way to go. How many times, despite having an active internet bundle, you are unable to get services? And for telecoms in Tanzania which are the main providers of internet, the quality of even voice services is often wanting.

Despite many strides made in providing internet in Tanzania, a huge part of the population is still left behind.

If we were to take the internet as a basic human right, we should start at schools, where special educational intervention services should be provided for free.

MCL conversation should go into how our policies can reduce the digital divide etc., until we recognize the internet as a human right.