Current ICT Initiatives and projects - Republic of Tanzania

ICT Initiatives are currently ongoing at national level in the areas of eInfrastructure and Education (Science, Technology and Higher Education Program, Tanzania National Research and Education Network, eLibraries, Education Management Information System), eHealth, Information Society & Entrepreneurship (TANZICT project, Dar Teknohama Business ICT Incubator, Binu Innovation Hub) and the Tanzania ICT Technology Park.

Science Technology and Higher Education Program (STHEP)

Science Technology and Higher Education Program (STHEP) was funded as a World Bank IDA loan of $100 million to the Government of Tanzania, implemented through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) program with support from the Ministry of Communication Science and Technology (MCST). This was initially a seven-year program, which was approved in 2008 and divided into two phases of activities. APL1 activities were to be implemented within the first two years and APL2 activities were to be accomplished within the last five years of the program. The long-term purpose of STHEP was to improve development of human capital in area of Science and Technology (S&T) and create a knowledge-based economy within the next ten years. 128 Higher Education and Research Institutions (HERIs) were identified as being under the STHEP program.

STHEP had four program components: Component 1A - Investments in Priority Discipline for Economic Growth; Component 1B - Expanded capacity for Teachers preparation and for graduate's studies in education; Component 2A - Strengthening Key Higher Education Agencies and Institutions; Component 2B - Investments in ICT based Higher Education Systems. STHEP Component 2B was focused on four (4) major areas being; National Research and Education Network (NREN), Education Management Information system (EMIS), E-Library, and E-Learning. Shared mechanisms to support the implementation of Component 2B of STHEP have being established between all 128 HERIs under this program.

The final findings of the feasibility study for the development of E-libraries and EMIS was presented on 18th December 2012. The piloting of the e-learning system commenced in February 2013 with five Universities. The piloting for E-libraries and EMIS will be undertaken with eight institutions from February 2013.

In June 2014, the Program was extended for a further 18-month period with an additional loan of $15 million to finish existing activities ($6.37 million) and commence new activities to pilot reforms introduced by STHEP-1 related to secondary school science teachers and support the tertiary education system to be more responsive to the labour market demand. This project is now closed.

Funding agency: World Bank, IDA credit, $100 million + further $15 million

Tanzania National Research and Education Network (NREN)

Within STHEP, the Higher Education Research Institution Network was the infrastructure built by the Tanzanian Government. A major objective of component 2B was to set up TERNET in 2008 as the National Research and Education Network (NREN) to: better manage the increasing numbers of students as the education sector expands; improve the quality of data used in decision making and resource management; enhance knowledge sharing; improve transparency; improve classroom student-teacher participation; and improve research capability. It was envisaged that over time the NREN would enable HEIs (Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Research Institutions to link to the Internet and to exchange information between institutions. It also aimed to facilitate advanced teaching at Universities, research and Community services. It should help to alleviate the cost and isolation challenges currently faced by institutions and individuals in rural areas as well as linking the Tanzanian HEIs and research institutions to the international research and education networks. TERNET is a member of the Ubuntunet Alliance since 2008.

ICT Infrastructure

The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania through the Ministry of Works, Communication and Transport (MWCT) - the former MCST (Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (MCST) built the National ICT Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) infrastructure Backbone (NICTBB). The NICTBB connects all district and regional headquarters in the country. The project officially started in February 2009.

Last Mile Connectivity

128 Higher Education and Research Institutions were identified to be connected through the NREN. Because of the limited funds available for phase 1 of the STHEP implementation, recommendations were made to connect only 28 higher education and research institutions in phase 1 and the remaining institutions to be connected in phase 2. By December 2018 23 Institutions have been connected.

ICT Applications

Building on the NICTBB and NREN, STHEP intended to implement both an Education Management Information System (EMIS) and an e-Library system to support education and research activities. The e-Library system includes both library management system (LMS) functionality, as well as digital library functionality, i.e. making digital content available for direct access by end users through digital technologies. The EMIS and e-Library systems may each consist of more than one software application.

The piloting for E-libraries and EMIS was undertaken with eight institutions from February 2013. Individual consultants were hired by COSTECH to deploy EMIS and E-library systems. Eight institutions, including national agencies were selected as pilots for the EMIS system; five out of the eight institutions were pilots for the E-library system. The pilot institutions were Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Mzumbe University (Morogoro Campus), State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), Higher Education Student Loan Board (HESLB) and National Council for Technical Education (NACTE).

In addition to this, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology has set up a National institution Repository . The aim is to have one platform for research outputs. Currently Universities and other Research institutions have their own repositories. This new repository aims to provide access to all research outputs in one place. To date COSTECH, University of Dar es salaam and Mzumber University have connected their repositories to the national respository.The aim is to connect up to 15 repositories.

Connectivity Arrangement

The HERI Core Network currently consists of 10 POPs which are located in different regions of the country: Dodoma, Dar-es-Salaam, Arusha, Moshi, Iringa, Mbeya, Morogoro, Zanzibar and Pwani. In Dar-es-Salaam there are two POPs, which are DSM/TH and Costech. Costech acts as a HUB of this Network. All connections shown in red represent the NICTBB fiber cable which is used to interconnect 90% of the POPs. Zanzibar and Pwani are connected to DSM/TH POP via E1

At each Regional POP, there is one PE router (Huawei NE40-X3) and one Aggregation switch (Huawei S5700) which can connect at least 24 HERIs (CE) of that particular region. Since Costech acts as a HUB of this Network, it serves as Internet Gateway, O&M Centre and also provide Internet bandwidth Management services.

The following institutions are connected: Nelson Mandela Institute of Science & Technology NM-AIST, High Education Students Loan Board (HESLB), Ardhi University (ARU), National Council of Technical Education (NACTE), Herbert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU), Dar Es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE), National Education Council of Tanzania - HQ (NECTA), Muslim University of Morogoro (MUM), Tumaini University - Dar Es Salaam College (TUDARCo), School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC), Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST), Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), Open University of Tanzania-DSM Campus (OUT-DSM), Open University of Tanzania-Kibaha Campus (OUT-Kibaha), International Medical & Technological University (IMTU), Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science (MUHAS), National Education Council of Tanzania - Mbezi (NECTA-Mbezi), Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), Saint John University of Tanzania (SJUT), Mkwawa University, College of Education (MUCE), Ruaha University College (RUCO), University of Iringa (UOI), Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College (KCMC), Moshi Cooperative University (MoCU), Stephano Moshi Memorial University College (SMMUC), Mzumbe University (MU), Sokoine University (SUA),State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), IFAKARA Health Institute (IHI), Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission.

Funding agency: World Bank

Connection of Teacher training Colleges and Technical and Vocational Institutions into the National ICT Broadband Backbone

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology intends to fund the provision of network design services for the connection of Teacher training Colleges and Technical and Vocational Institutions into the National ICT Broadband Backbone project during the 2018 - 2019 financial year.

It aims to provide network design and technical assistance to MoEST in and endeavor to add a number of TVET institutions and TTC's into the existing HERI network by providing last mile connectivity and network access equipment to the colleges. It aims to

- Enable institutions to collaborate and share information through a single secure network. Resources available at one institution like e-library can be shared by other institutions thereby making full use of resources and prevent expensive duplication of resources;

- Lectures and conferences offered at one institution can be shared in real-time with members of other institutions thereby making good use of the limited number of educators available at these institutions; and

- Enable institutions to easily communicate with the general public and offer services such as online registration system.

It aims to connect teacher training colleges, TVET institutions across the country.

eHealth Strategy

In 2013, Tanzania launched the national e-Health Strategy (2013 - 2018) as an important milestone in the transformation of the healthcare system by ICT. It focuses on delivering a safer, high-quality, equitable, efficient, and sustainable health system that is equipped to respond to emerging health sector cost and demand pressures. A Digital Health Investment Recommendation Roadmap was developed through a consultative process with the Ministry of Health, President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), other Government departments and agencies, health management teams, health facilities and training institutes and partner organizations.

e-Health initiatives currently ongoing include:

- e-Health infrastructure - The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC), its MDAs, national, specialist, zonal and regional referral hospitals and district hospitals are connected to the National ICT Backbone.

- Healthcare Service Provision - Work is ongoing on the integrated Health Facility electronic Management System (iHFeMS) at different levels covering various functions of the health facilities. i.e. National hospital, Zonal hospital, regional referral hospitals, district hospitals, health centres and dispensaries. It is now possible to determine who many patients a doctor has seen, patient confidentiality has improved, test results can be accessed quicker and decision-making processes have been improved through computerization of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS- MTUHA). In January 2016 the Guidelines and Standard for integrated Health Facility electronic Management System (iHFeMS) was made available to standardise roll out.

- Establishment of one source of facility information - T he Health Facility Registry (HFR) System provides standardized health facility data (including unique identifier, geographical location, facility type, ownership, operating status, contact details, infrastructure and services provided by the facilities).

- An electronic Logistic Information System (eLMIS) is used at national level to manage reports and requisition as well as distribution of health commodities

- An electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (eIDSR) system has been introduced to collect epidemic prone and public health importance diseases from health facilities.

- A telemedicine network has been piloted in seven health facilities named Amana, Temeke, Mwananyamala, Tumbi, Bagamoyo, Mbeya referral, and Muhimbili National hospital. The network is mostly used for tele-consultation from specialized hospitals to non- specialized hospitals.

eGovernment projects

In 2010 the Government established the eGovernment Agency to coordinate, oversee and promote eGoverment initiatives. A number of eGovernment systems have been deployed including the National Payment System (NPS) which comprises of the Tanzania Interbank Settlement System (TISS), Electronic Clearing House (ECH), Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and Retail Payment System (RPS). To date, the eGovernment agency has:

- Designed, developed and operationalized the Government e-Office System (GeOS) to facilitate day to day Government administrative process within and amongst Public Institutions. Currently, 28 Public Institutions have been connected and are using the system.

- Designed, developed and operationalized the Government Mailing System (GMS), to facilitate office communication whereby a total of 359 Public Institutions including Embassies are connected and using the System.

- Facilitated designing and development of various e-government systems that facilitated public institutions business operations including PCCB corruption acts reporting system through short code 113, Parliament online information system POLIS, Government Recruitment portal that facilitated Government recruitment processes and Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG) to improve visibility, control of Government revenue collection

- Established a secured and affordable shared Government Communication Network (GovNeT) to facilitate communication across the Government, whereby more than 150 Public Institutions are connected.

- Developed and operationalised Government Mobile Platform (mGOV) as one stop center for all Government mobile services whereby, a total of 117 Public Institutions are using the Platform with more than 15 million transactions

- Operationalised e-Government Standards and Guidelines used by Public Institutions to facilitate e-Government implementations. Moreover, the Agency is using them in providing guidance on proper acquisition and implementation of e-Government initiatives and reducing duplications.

- Operationalised Government Data Centre that provide hosting services for virtual, websites, applications, co-location and domain registration and hosting

- Provided advisory services to 299 Public Institutions and 2,947 technical support services in areas of ICT Systems Review, ICT Security Assessment, Development of Disaster Recovery Plan, Development of ICT Strategy, Development of ICT Policy, Development of Enterprise Architecture and ICT Project Review.

- Provided e-government technical trainings in areas of network management to 240 institutions, Government Mailing System to 359 institutions, provision of e-services to 76 institutions and website management to 411 institutions.

Innovation Projects

Finland has funded a number of projects in Tanzania focused on supporting the Innovation Ecosytem.

TANZICT

TANZICT was an Information Society and ICT Sector development bi-lateral project between the Government of Tanzania and the Government of Finland, which is hosted by COSTECH from August 2011 to December 2016. It focused on strengthening the Tanzania Information Society through a revision of the national ICT Policy and associated Implementation, strengthening the institutional capacity of MCST and creating a Tanzania Innovation programme. It created a community spirit through support for pre-Incubation, training for women entrepreneurs, community events and hands-on support.

TANZICT set up an open Innovation Space and pre-Incubation space in October 2011 on the ground floor of COSTECH, which is now called Buni Hub. The Innovation Space provides co-working space with WiFi Internet access for up to 40 people, a meeting space for up to 60 people, regular training and networking events.

TANZICT co-operated with IIMC in relation to the second IST-Africa Living Lab Workshop in Dar es Salaam in May 2012. TANZICT is providing hands on support to emerging Living Labs in Iringa, Kigamboni, Mwanza, Mbeya, Zanzibar and Arusha.

TANZICT launched the FEMTANZ 3-month Programme in December 2012 to provide business support training to women who wish to grow their own technology-enabled businesses.

TANZICT and DTBi launched joint Call for Pre-Incubation and Incubation.

TANZICT and COSTECH launched an ICT Innovation Fund in 2012 to provide seed funding to develop a prototype or pilot a service, which is managed by COSTECH and funded by TANZICT The grant ($7,000 - $10,000) is focused on funding development of a prototype, technical work and technical skills but is not aimed at supporting the running costs of a start-up. It is a requirement that the recipient is hosted at an existing Incubator or Hub such as DTBI, Buni Hub, university incubator or KINU Innovation Hub that can provide mentoring and monitor their progress. The first Call for Applications closed in November 2012, received 25 applications with the first cohort of six grantees announced in April 2013 with funding of €50,000 in total. The second call received 44 applications with ten grantees announced in October 2014 and funding of €70,000 in total. The third Call closed in September 2014 and seven projects were funded. The fourth Call closed in May 2015 and received 137 proposals of which 18 innovators were awarded grants with a total funding of €155,000.

Funding : Government of Finland, 5 million euro (Sept 2011 - August 2015, extended to December 2016)

TANZIS

TANZIS was prepared as the follow on project from TANZICT focused on support to Tanzania's Innovation System. The overall objective of TANZIS is to support a "Functioning national innovation system in Tanzania contributing to companies' increased competitiveness, access to new markets and job creation". It is a cooperation between the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland to intensify cooperation in the field of Innovation. Originally it was envisaged that this project would run from 2016 - 2021 but it has not commenced activities yet.

As outlined in the 2nd Five Year Development Plan (2016/2017-2021), Tanzania is embarking on economic and social development through industrialisation. The plan acknowledges that industrialisation and inclusive socio-economic development can only be attained through accumulation of national science, technology and innovation capabilities. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) has prepared a policy paper for Science, Technology and Innovation STI) focused on highlighting the government priorities in STI. It will also lead to preparation of STI Act.

It has been determined that there are five main reasons why the innovation system in Tanzania does not function optimally which TANZIS aims to address: 1) lack of innovation policy; 2) lack of linkages between industry, academia and government; 3) inadequate funding to initiate and commercialise innovative ideas; 4) insufficient information on innovation, especially on successful innovations and 5) low innovation capacity and business skills or business understanding of SMEs, NGOs and funding agencies.

TANZIS aims to support the following outcomes:

- Enabling environment for innovation strengthened (immediate, system level);

- Sustainable results from actions on enabling environment for innovation (intermediate system level);

- Innovations created (immediate innovation level);

- Innovation projects produce economic and societal benefits (intermediate innovation level).

It has three components:

- Increased opportunities for innovation through funding for innovation and cooperation through special innovation window in NFAST (here referred to as NFAST-I) and through skills development and capacity building (e.g. by supporting Living Labs or Team Academy activities).

- Increased COSTECH capacity for fund management through capacity development, strategy and communication plan for NFAST-I; and

- Increased information on innovation by advocating and raising awareness on the importance of innovation among policy makers, civil servants and general public.

It is envisioned that by the end of TANZIS, NFAST-I will be the most important source of innovation funding in Tanzania, with Tanzanian public and private financing, capable staff for fund management and an increasing number of innovators applying for funding.

Partners : Ministry for Foreign Affairs Finland (MFA), Ministry for Education, Science and Technology, COSTECH

Funding : €12.8 million, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland (70%), Government of Tanzania (30%)

It is envisaged that € 5.75 million (45%) will be allocated to finance innovation and cooperation, € 3.8 million (30%) will be used for international and national long-term and short-term technical assistance, € 3.2 million, (25%) to cover salaries of the Tanzanian staff and local expert, administrative costs and other costs such as office space, equipment and recurrent costs.

Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme (SAIS 2)

SAIS 2 is focused on supporting the growth of new businesses through strengthening innovation ecosystems and promotion of cross-border collaboration between innovation players in Southern Africa. It is supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Finland, in partnership with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Botswana; Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (Namibia); Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Tanzania; Ministry of Higher Education, Zambia; Department of Science and Technology, South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat. It is supporting Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8, 9 and 17. It is focused on supporting institutional capacity to support innovation and enterprise development, improved enterprise capacity to innovate and enter new markets and an improved enabling environment to support inclusive innovation activities in the region.

SAIS2 is managed by a Programme Management office, hosted by NCRST in Namibia and implemented by focal points in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

The SAIS2 Innovation fund publishes competitive Calls for proposals to award grants for locally implemented projects in the five partner countries. The first Call for Proposals ran from February to April 2018 with three funding opportunities focused on cross border projects to support development o f institutional capacity for regional innovation cooperation; Scaling Enterprises through stronger Innovation Support organisations and Improving enabling enviroment for inclusive activities in the region. Four projecs were selected for funding under each funding windows with twelve projects funded in total. The second Call for Proposals runs from November 2018 to January 2019.

SAIS 2 aims to suport three capacity building programs for Innovation Fund grantees: Data Collection and Analytics Framework Training; Accelerator Programme for Entrepreneurs and Innovation Intermediaries and Inclusive Innovation and Capacity Building Program.

SAIS2 supported Connected Hubs to share best practices in innovation support through online and offline training sessions. In 2018 it organised the Annual Southern Africa Innovation Forum. Connected Hub Members during 2018 included Botswana Innovation Hub, Gen BW; National Commission on Research Science and Technology, Namibia; Namibia Business Innovation Institute; COSTECH, Tanzania; BuniHub, Tanzania; Technology Innovation Agency, South Africa; mLab, Southern Africa; National Technology Business Centre, Zambia and BongoHive, Zamiba.

National Focal Points : Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), National Commission on Research Science and Technology Namibia (NCRST), Technology Innovation Agency, South Africa; COSTECH, Tanzania; National Technology Business Centre, Zambia

Funding : €9.3 million, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland 2017 - 2021

Tanzania ICT Technology Park

The ICT Technology Park, a Public and Private Partnership between the Government of Tanzania and SEACOM, will become a focal point for innovation, and include an Incubator providing co-working space, seed funding, training and mentorship for ICT entrepreneurs. Good progress has been made in identifying locations. The areas for the park has been confirmed in Bagamoyo and classified as a Special Export Zone, thus attracting low tax and tariffs, with SEACOM providing bandwidth. The data centre will be managed by NIDA as a 2 Tier data centre suitable for government, private sector and multinationals. The Park will help provide jobs by housing multinational enterprises and startup incubators, which will encourage them to interact.

Land has been acquired in the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone. The total area is 428 acres. Cadeogeolostic and topographic surveys have been conducted as inputs for the Masterplan. A Detailed Master Plan for the Technology Park (TTP) has been developed by Voyants solutions of India. This includes Detailed Land use/layout plan for the whole technology Park and residential area; plots for industries, residents/recreational areas, Bagamoyo Institute of Technology and utility infrastructures. This part of assignment is 90% complete. Voyants submitted the final report of the master plan and currently they are working on comments from the advisory committee to final submission. The activity to formulate special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to run the Technology Park effectively and efficiently will follow during 2019 - 2020

Funding : SEACOM and COSTECH