PHUTHEGO Chere a graduate of the Institute of Technology in the Unites States is set to publish the first Information Technology (IT) magazine published in Botswana.

The IT magazine to be called Datalink will focus on information on Personal Computers (PCs), telecommunications and technology integration products and will be of a high quality to enable it compete in the regional market.

"This is an individual project and I am trying everything to get my finances in order. I have even approached the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), but at the moment I have enough advertisements to print the first copy on April 21," Chere said on Wednesday adding that 'at the moment I am not profit motivated'.

The magazine will essentially target IT professionals and users in the country and will be circulated amongst Botswana's most established and reputable business people in the age bracket of 28 and 64 years of age.

"The magazine will also provide local companies with information about the latest technologies and ways of deploying these technologies," Chere explained.

Although the magazine, which currently does not have any local competition, will focus on the IT industry, the product will still face production costs and other logistical problems that other publications face in the industry including poor advertising and low circulation rates.

The 27 year-old Chere said: "In Botswana we have no competitors, however we are still competing directly with high profile magazines from outside the country. The good thing is that these magazines are not available locally and their market targets are different from ours".

This lack of local competition means that the publication would compete directly with other international well-established publications from the auditing sectors produced by Waterhouse Coopers, and others from management consulting firms like Mckinsey and Bain.

He gave an example of other publications by market research firms like IDC, Dataquest, and ChannelCorp, which if allowed to penetrate the local market would put Chere's publication in a tight corner as they would give him stiff competition.

"Our target subscriber wants timely information about new developments in the high-tech market, ideas and innovations. Our subscriber is paying us P1000 annually to find out what is important and streamline their work of staying up to date with new developments," Chere said.

He said that the Datalink magazine would be fed by high profile publications, which they are going to purchase at an average amount of $4 000 and P10 000 and share the information with their subscribers.

Chere said that the magazine would target IT industry players by giving them advice. This would include giving them advice on the local marketing and usage of high tech products and services.

"Our most important group of potential customers on the subscription side are IT managers of government departments, medium sized and large corporations," he said.

He revealed that his advertising expectations go beyond the country's borders.

"Our potential customers on the advertising side are the US High Tech companies and their European counterparts. These firms have branches in the SADC region especially South Africa," he said.

Locally on the advertising side, Datalink will target IT dealers like IBM Botswana, Microsoft Certified Developers and HP Resellers.

"The magazine will contribute positively to the country's economy as it can source foreign exchange for the country," he said.

The magazine would be accessed on both the web and on hard copy.