Staff Reporter
Swakopmund
Thirty-five young people from Swakopmund attended a presentation on information and communication technology (ICT)
here on Monday.
The information session was organised by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology’s regional office in Erongo to raise awareness of the possibilities the use of the internet and other ICT hold for the community.
Briefing Nampa about the event, the ministry’s information officer in the region, Paulina Moses, said they want to empower the youth to reap the full benefits of ICT.
“All participants were glad to have attended the session and said they gathered useful information. They suggested that the ministry use a bigger platform to organise this event in future,” Moses said.
She said stakeholders in the ICT sector were invited to educate the youth about the various mechanisms they have put in place to make life easier through ICT such as electronic-banking (e-banking), e-marketing, as well as online applications for employment.
Presenters were from Telecom Namibia; International University of Management; Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation; Namibian Police Force; Institute of Technology Sciences; Swakopmund Municipality; and Standard Bank.
Each institution was accorded 30 minutes to explain to participants how they can use ICT to access their services.
“An officer from NamPol did a presentation on cybercrime and spoke to the youth about responsible online behaviour, amongst others, telling them that posting content that is sexual or destructive to another person’s character is defamation of character and is a crime.”
Moses said the Ministry of Labour informed the youth on how to find employment online by accessing their website, www.namibiaatwork.gov.na.
She said the ministry established 26 multipurpose centres across the country, as well as information resource centres at some of its regional offices, including at Swakopmund. There are also satellite centres in Henties Bay and Omatjete.
“According to the statistics taken from the library attendance register from July to last month, approximately 130 people visit the information centre every month, where they mostly use computers to type up documents and browse the web,” she said.
The ministry plans to make this an annual event and hopes to host bigger ICT information sessions in future.
– Nampa