Nicholas Dausi has said s dissemination of effective, timely and accurate public communication through utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) is key to the socio-economic development of the country.
Dausi said this on Wednesday at a launching ceremony of the ministry’s website held at the Department of E-government’s offices in Lilongwe.
He said that as a policy holder of communication, the ministry has a sacred responsibility of serving people with public information about different developmental projects government is undertaking.
“We must have timely and accurate flow of information for the people if we want to develop the country and this website should be an effective tool to aid that,” Dausi said.
The minister added that the website should be user friendly for easy utilization and access to varied content on development issues.
Dausi, therefore, called for inclusion of content beyond the communication sector, citing natural disaster as one of the issues in need of immediate attention.
“An emergency like fire or floods can strike at a moment’s notice. This website must be ready to be the first line of defence in giving out relevant information for desired responses.
“This can calm and control residents by getting them to safety and also direct emergency services’ personnel to areas that require help,” the minister said.
The Department of E-government under the ministry provided the expertise for developing the website. The launch marked the official handover of the website to the sister Department of Information that will be responsible for content management.
The minister, therefore, called on the two departments to work together to ensure that the website has up to date features and information that responds to the dynamic ICT sector and current needs of people respectively.
Principal secretary for the ministry Erica Maganga, directors of E-Government and Information Maganizo Chipula and Gideon Munthali respectively were some of the officials present at the launch.
The website locator is www.ict.gov.mw