Government should empower the poor by way of giving them access to information, an official at Botswana Telecommunication Authority (BTA) has said.

Information and communication technology can help in the fight against poverty, BTA senior manager - department of broadcasting regulation - Oshinka Tsiang told participants at a three-day World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) consultative workshop on Tuesday.

Tsiang said alongside other breakthroughs, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) could push forward the frontiers of how people can use information to eradicate poverty. He said due to access to information, the opportunities for individual and community empowerment would be increased. "The ability to use information and to communicate is fundamental to human welfare," said Tsiang.

WSIS was born out of the commitment that information plays a significant role in human life and is essential for every society. The summit is in two phases. The first phase took place in Geneva in 2003 and the second will be held next month in Tunis, Tunisia, where the participants will evaluate progress made since the Geneva summit, as well as draw conclusions on those issues that could not be concluded during the Geneva phase of the summit.