TANZANIANS have been challenged to keep up the spirit of discussing and debating on matters pertaining on the need to have laws governing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for educational and social development.

This was said over the weekend by Mr Innocent Mgeta, the Acting Head of International Law Department at Mzumbe University during a public lecture on Law and ICT in Tanzania.

The public lecture was hosted by Mzumbe's Dar es Salaam Business School in collaboration with the Swedish Law & Informatics Research Institute (IRI) of University of Stockholm.

Mr Mgeta said that other countries have applied technology that has made life easier through acquiring various services.

"So, this calls for a need to regulate it through appropriate laws for more efficiency and results", he said.

The Principal of Mzumbe University Dar es Salaam Business School, Prof Andrew Mbwambo added his voice on the need for the law to control ICT.

"The influence of ICT and law are important particularly in social, economic and in cultural development," he said.

Presenting a paper, Prof Cecilia Magnusson, the IRI Director said that one way of approaching issues in e-government is to reflect upon the development in terms of infrastructure.

Earlier, Dr Eleuter Mushi, Dean, Faculty of Law at the university said that experience from Sweden is important because advancement of science, technology and telecommunications have a global impact as one of their main features.

He explained that though the impacts may be different from country to country, they have one common characteristic of affecting laws and more generally, the national legal system.

"Normally, they give rise to some new laws as some old laws get outdated and irrelevant," he said.

The public lecture was attended by students, government officials, members of the public, and dons.