{"id":2225,"date":"2026-03-19T12:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/?p=2225"},"modified":"2026-03-27T12:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:25:07","slug":"hh-challenges-ictaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/?p=2225","title":{"rendered":"HH chal\u00adlenges ICTAZ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Urges asso\u00adci\u00adation to revolu\u00adtion\u00adise coun\u00adtry\u2019s pro\u00adduc\u00adtion sys\u00adtems<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By CHISHALA MUSONDA – 19 Mar 2026 – Zambia Daily Mail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has chal\u00adlenged the Inform\u00ada\u00adtion and Com\u00admu\u00adnic\u00ada\u00adtions Tech\u00adno\u00adlogy Asso\u00adci\u00adation of Zam\u00adbia (ICTAZ) to take a lead\u00ading role in trans\u00adform\u00ading the coun\u00adtry\u2019s pro\u00adduc\u00adtion sys\u00adtems through innov\u00ada\u00adtion and digital solu\u00adtions to accel\u00ader\u00adate eco\u00adnomic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Hichilema said tech\u00adno\u00adlogy must move from being a sup\u00adport ser\u00advice to becom\u00ading a cent\u00adral driver of pro\u00adductiv\u00adity across key sec\u00adtors like agri\u00adcul\u00adture, min\u00ading, energy and man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want ICTAZ to help us revolu\u00adtion\u00adise pro\u00adduc\u00adtion in this coun\u00adtry. Whether it is in farm\u00ading, min\u00ading or man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading, tech\u00adno\u00adlogy must enable us to pro\u00adduce more effi\u00adciently and com\u00adpet\u00adit\u00adively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pres\u00adid\u00adent Hichilema was speak\u00ading yes\u00adter\u00adday when he opened the ICTAZ tech con\u00adfer\u00adence, train\u00ading, expos\u00adi\u00adtion and 17th annual gen\u00aderal meet\u00ading on the theme \u2018Zam\u00adbia\u2019s US$60 bil\u00adlion by 2031: Powered by tech\u00adno\u00adlogy and arti\u00adfi\u00adcial intel\u00adli\u00adgence\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pres\u00adid\u00adent said Zam\u00adbia\u2019s agenda to grow and even\u00adtu\u00adally double the eco\u00adnomy hinges on effi\u00adcient util\u00adisa\u00adtion of scarce resources, as tech\u00adno\u00adlogy offers prac\u00adtical solu\u00adtions to enhance pro\u00adductiv\u00adity and reduce waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Hichilema said Gov\u00adern\u00adment is pri\u00ador\u00adit\u00adising invest\u00adment expendit\u00adure over con\u00adsump\u00adtion, adding that embra\u00adcing digital sys\u00adtems will help cut unne\u00adces\u00adsary costs asso\u00adci\u00adated with tra\u00addi\u00adtional oper\u00ada\u00adtions such as excess\u00adive travel, work\u00adshops and paper\u00adwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said shift\u00ading to vir\u00adtual plat\u00adforms for meet\u00adings and adopt\u00ading digital com\u00admu\u00adnic\u00ada\u00adtion tools will not only improve effi\u00adciency but also free up resources that can be redir\u00adec\u00adted towards improv\u00ading con\u00addi\u00adtions of ser\u00advice for pub\u00adlic ser\u00advice work\u00aders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must reduce wastage. Tech\u00adno\u00adlogy allows us to do the same work more effi\u00adciently. Vir\u00adtual meet\u00adings, digital pro\u00adcesses and auto\u00adma\u00adtion will help us save resources and invest more in devel\u00adop\u00adment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The head of State also urged ICT pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals to sup\u00adport Gov\u00adern\u00adment in enhan\u00adcing rev\u00adenue col\u00adlec\u00adtion sys\u00adtems, par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlarly at local author\u00adity level, where inef\u00adfi\u00adcien\u00adcies con\u00adtinue to res\u00adult in low col\u00adlec\u00adtions des\u00adpite high rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Hichilema fur\u00adther called for ICT-driven solu\u00adtions to improve pro\u00adductiv\u00adity in agri\u00adcul\u00adture, where yields remain below poten\u00adtial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the right tech\u00adno\u00adlogy such as pre\u00adci\u00adsion farm\u00ading and irrig\u00ada\u00adtion sys\u00adtems, farm\u00aders can sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00adantly increase out\u00adput without expand\u00ading farm\u00adland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pres\u00adid\u00adent Hichilema said tech\u00adno\u00adlogy has already demon\u00adstrated its value in sec\u00adtors like min\u00ading, where the use of advanced sys\u00adtems has led to the dis\u00adcov\u00adery of sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00adant min\u00aderal depos\u00adits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pres\u00adid\u00adent called on ICTAZ mem\u00adbers to develop loc\u00adally rel\u00adev\u00adant digital products rather than rely\u00ading solely on impor\u00adted tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgies, say\u00ading innov\u00ada\u00adtion tailored to Zam\u00adbia\u2019s needs will have greater eco\u00adnomic impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the digital trans\u00adform\u00ada\u00adtion agenda must be inclus\u00adive, ensur\u00ading that rural com\u00admunit\u00adies bene\u00adfit through improved access to ser\u00advices such as e-health and e-edu\u00adca\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged ICTAZ to work closely with Gov\u00adern\u00adment through pub\u00adlicprivate part\u00adner\u00adships to accel\u00ader\u00adate imple\u00adment\u00ada\u00adtion of digital solu\u00adtions and drive Zam\u00adbia\u2019s eco\u00adnomic trans\u00adform\u00ada\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And ICTAZ pres\u00adid\u00adent Clem\u00adent Sinyangwe assured Pres\u00adid\u00adent Hichilema of the asso\u00adci\u00adation\u2019s sup\u00adport to help Gov\u00adern\u00adment grow the coun\u00adtry\u2019s eco\u00adnomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cICT is the driver. It has the poten\u00adtial to drive the eco\u00adnomy like any other coun\u00adtry,\u201d Dr Sinyangwe said. – Zambia Daily Mail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Urges asso\u00adci\u00adation to revolu\u00adtion\u00adise coun\u00adtry\u2019s pro\u00adduc\u00adtion sys\u00adtems By CHISHALA MUSONDA – 19 Mar 2026 – Zambia Daily Mail PRESIDENT Hakainde … <\/i>Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[146,147,151,144,60,64,152],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2227,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225\/revisions\/2227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ictaz.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}