The Government, through Rwanda Information Communication Technology Association (RICTA) is set to boost ICT development in the country by coming up with a new strategy that will ensure a vibrant sector.

This was disclosed, Thursday, during a one day dialogue that brought together RICTA, Government officials and other stakeholders from the private sector.

Speaking at the dialogue, ICT Minister, Ignace Gatare, said that his Ministry acknowledges the role of IT professionals in the process of achieving Rwanda’s vision for development using ICT as an enabling tool.

"The most exciting phase towards the realisation of our ICT vision is the effective exploitation of our infrastructures by deploying IT innovative applications which should leverage Rwanda’s socio-economic development,” he said

"This can range broadly from e-Health, e-Learning, e-Commerce, e-Banking, e-Governance and other e-programmes”.

Gatera reiterated the importance of partnering with RICTA in exploring issues of human capacity in the ICT sector and the challenges faced by the existing entrepreneurs in this industry.

"Our target is to create an enabling environment that empowers Information Technology entrepreneurs and leads to a competitive and dynamic ICT sector,” he noted

According to the CEO of RICTA, Geoffrey Kayonga, the association aims at solving issues that hinder the development of ICT within the private sector.

"RICTA and the Government have come up with policies on how multinational companies can partner with local ICT companies in the country in order to build local capacity,” he said.

He also revealed that RICTA is working hand-in-hand with Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) to have .org domain repatriated to Rwanda.

Currently this domain is being hosted and managed in Belgium.

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