Bujumbura-Media practitioners have been urged to efficiently embrace the power of ICT as a means of reaching a much wider audience.Eng. Andrew Kisaka, the Principle Broadcast Engineer from Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority said this yesterday while speaking at the international forum on professionalising media though the power of ICT.The two-day forum which is underway in Burundian capital, Bujumbura, brings together about 100 participants from Africa and beyond.“In this digital era the media should be at the forefront of using the power of ICT. This the only way they will reach their audience faster and at the global level,” he said.Kisaka said the ICT facilitates the expansion of media which comes with vast opportunities to the country like increased trade, travel, good governance and tourism among others.The meeting organized by Panos Paris, an NGO that promotes media development in central Africa, aims at exploring ways on how the use of ICT can promote the development of the industry.“Let’s put our emphasis on opportunities and reap the benefits of digitalisation,” he noted. Concilie Nibigira, Burundi’s Minister of ICT, said the media industry should utilise opportunities brought about by ICT growth in Africa.“The landing of submarine cables at the Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam coasts should be an opportunity to East African Community countries to exploit them for the development of ICT sector,” she said.The government of Rwanda last year laid 2,500-kilometre national fibre optic cable across the country which also connected to the submarine cables.The cables are expected to boost access to various broadband services, including fast tracking government initiatives like e-Governance, e-Banking, e-Learning, e-Health, and other applications.Nibigira stressed the need to invest heavily in the telecommunication industry to enable the rural population to access the efficient and affordable mobile communication services.According to Albert Rudatsimburwa, the Managing Director of Contact FM in Rwanda, the media industry should equally embrace social media that is brought about by ICT.“The media should efficiently use the new social networking sites like twitter, Facebook, YouTube to communicate and interact with the people,” he said.
