Policy no Information Systems And Service S for Uganda : Suggested Formulation and ' Plans For Implementations.

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Date

1992-07

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

An a t tempt has been made i n this study to exami ne the problems of information development and information and development in Uganda. Uganda has potential for sooio-eoonomio development. Transport and oommunioation are reasonably well developed. Informati on oommunioati on i s however, still a problem. There is no singl e national l anguage used i n all parts of the oountry. Bnglish, the offioial language , has not spread adequately t o s erve a-s a oommon a edium of oommunioation. The present eoonomio infrastruoture oannot support national free and oompulsory basio eduoation to eradioate illiteraoy. Information aoti vities i n the oountry are weak . Information seeking and use behaviour has not evolved t o oonstitute a hi gh demand for information . Aooess to teohnioal and speoialized information is still limited t o a small seotion of the sooietYI the eduoated and elite working and living in towns. Almost all media infrastruotur es and other supporting infrastruotures are urban based. The available media servioes are not adequately serving the rural people who oonstitute more about 90% of the population of uganda. Insti tutions in the rural areas cannot buy and maintain intormati on dissemination equipment and materi als due t o poverty and illiteracy. Multi plicity ot lanquaqes also limits media services. Information as an overall resource tor national devel opment needs t o be properly coordinated. There is need t o coordinate intormati on qeneratinq and disseminatinq intra structures in the country. Appl icati on ot intormation t o nati~nal~ develop~ent should be .~ , done consoiously and deliberately not accidentally or haphazardly. Intormatics will not malte an impact on national and intormation resource shari nq in support ot development wi thout a national intormati on coordination and clear a policy on intormation. without proper ooordination and applioations of information, involvinq into information activities miqht prove a liability, exposinq the nation to unchecked exploitation . Proper coordination requires well trained and competent information personnel. Information policy issues and their implications are discussed. Policy stat ements relatinq to information systems and services, and their i mplementation steps have been suqqested. Finally, some short and lonq term recommendations in the view of information infrastructure development in uqanda to support national development have been made.

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Keywords

Information Science

Citation