Click Here & Upgrade PDF Complete Expanded Features Unlimited Pages Documents Iv) v) vi) vii) viii) Reduction of child mortality; Improvement of maternal health; To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; Ensuring environmental sustainability; and Development of global partnership for the attainment of a more peaceful, just and Prosperous world. At the sub-regional level Zambia has been an active player in ICT initiatives under COMESA and SADC. This policy therefore is influenced by the policy frameworks and principles recommended by the two bodies among them the following:I) Increasing market size through inte4gration and cross border trade with ICTs playing an integral part of the social and economic development of member states; Ii) Competition among market players in the ICT sector in member states; Iii) Conveying of regulatory authorities in telecommunications and broadcasting; Iv) Implementing independent and technology -neutral legal and regulatory frameworks; v) Independence of market players especially the regulatory functions; vi) Private sector participation in the development of ICT products and services. 1.2 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF ICTs IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The Zambian economy has experienced decline since the 1980s due to several factors among them the low productivity in the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The net effect has been increased poverty levels now estimated at over 70 percent of the population living with less than US$1 per day. To address the economic quagmire Government liberalized the economy in 1991. This new economic path can be, in part made possible by advances in information and communications technology, which can reduce the cost of and increase the speed of communicating in the country hence abolishing barriers of time and space. ICT has also made possible the integration of national systems of production and finance. Further ICTs are driving significant changes in both micro and national levels by; increasing effectiveness and reach of development interventions, by enhancing good governance and lowering the cost of the delivery of basic social services. In the sphere of education for example, ICTs have the potential to improve quality of education and training through e-learning and online learning. 1