Maun — The premier of SmartBots village connectivity, which aims to fast-track digital access to over 500 villages across Botswana is part of government delivery on its promises to Batswana, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.
During the launch of the project in Maun on yesterday, President Masisi said that SmartBots also buttressed Botswana's resolve to transform the country's economic trajectory from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy.
"Le ka tswa le itse gore dingwaga tse tharo tse di fetileng, re ne ra simolodisa tiro e ka yone re neng re batla go atolosa ditlhaeletsanyo ka maranyane a a bofefo, a le mahala e bile a tsenelelwa ke botlhe," he said of the stage that had now hatched the digital transformation strategy commonly referred to as SmartBots.
He also said the launch of the SmartBots village connectivity flagship project marked a huge milestone in Botswana's digital transformation journey that would surely have a snowballing effect on all sectors of the economy.
The digital transformation strategy according to Dr Masisi was a tool meant to bridge the digital divide and the right vehicle to use to turn around the fortunes of the business community that would greatly impact the economic landscape of Botswana.
Optimal and proper use of this platform, which embraces people from all walks of life to pursue their dreams is cost-effective. It will go a long way in saving users the rigour of travelling long distances to do business in far-flung areas and ensure that business is done in the shortest time possible; something he stated would increase productivity and business continuity even during stormy times.
Also, President Masisi said through SmartBots, Batswana would easily access both public and private services as well as programmes which were now a click away.
He further stated that the SmartBots strategy was government's move to recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic that had affected many economies.
President Masisi said it was evident that countries that were well connected were able to deal with the pandemic far better than those that were not well connected, hence the resolve to connect the country to put it in better place to be able to deal with any such threats in future.
He said well connected countries were able to weather the storm better than the less connected ones like Botswana. "Through SmartBots, the skills and capabilities of both youth and innovators who will be able to compete at a global scale will be developed," he said.
Nonetheless, he warned Batswana against misuse of government platforms lest they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Kgosi Tawana II shared President Masisi's sentiments that SmartBots would save both time and money for users who access businesses from their localities.
He was happy that the project embraced all and sundry and had a component to take on board those lagging behind.
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Ms Vehai Tjirianga, a community representative gave a first-hand account of the goodness of the SmartBots platform and commended government for the initiative, which she said had a huge impact on women and girls.
"This strategy promotes gender equity and closes the digital gender divide in connectivity. I have been able to surf through the net while queuing for services at health facilities," said Ms Tjirianga, a social entrepreneur and gender activist.
To date, Phase 1 of the village connectivity project has been connected to about 1 138 public facilities over 144 villages and covering 1.6 million Batswana, who are able to access free Internet services. On average, about 120 924 Batswana use the SmartBots services.
BOPA
