Johannesburg — APPOINTMENTS, including a raft of advisers to the government, are due to be made to help SA utilise information and communication technology (ICT) more effectively.

The announcement follows a three-day meeting between President Thabo Mbeki and his Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development which ended in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, yesterday.

The meeting focused on developments and trends in ICT and reviewed progress in areas such as e-government, education and health.

While Mogeotladi Mogano had already been appointed co-ordinator of the advisory council, a CEO of the e-skills council was to be appointed within three months.

A local CEOs' forum would help implement decisions taken by the advisory council, now in its seventh year of existence.

In addition, advisers would work with Trade and Investment SA, a division of the trade and industry department, to ensure that SA improved its investment in ICT.

Advisers would also constitute a group that would assist the government in energy saving, especially in the ICT sector.

To measure progress against set goals, a scorecard would be developed.

Briefing journalists, Mbeki said yesterday that SA had made some progress in the provision of ICT to South Africans. Now, he said, "as government, service providers and operators we need to look into innovative approaches to expand connectivity in rural areas".

Also discussed during the meeting was the country's readiness to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. SA was expected to spend between R2bn and R5bn on ICT infrastructure needed for the games.

This would include event management systems with software to manage the accreditation of delegates, as well as transportation, travel and protocol systems.

The cabinet recently approved migration from analogue to digital television. That will start next month, and is expected to be completed in 2011.

Earlier this year, Mbeki inaugurated an e-skills academy aimed at accelerating the development of professional qualifications.

Based in Johannesburg, the academy opened its doors in January, four months after it was announced at the advisory council's forum last year.

The council is a high-level panel made up of 23 luminaries in the ICT sector, including representatives from SAP, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard.

Mbeki said: "The establishment of the council is born from the fact that there is a lack of a co-ordinated, coherent and integrated approach for addressing the ICT skills shortage at all levels in the country."

With Sapa, Buanews