National Information and Communications Technology Policy 1.1.8 Local Content and Hosting The ninth objective of the NICTP 2003 aimed to promote local creation and development of ICT applications and multi-media content for productivity, as well as for social interactions, culture and entertainment. A study conducted by the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology in 2014 showed that there had been little progress in developing local content over the last ten years of NICTP 2003 implementation. The country still depends on foreign importation of content, software and hardware. Development of local content is still a challenge as there is limited level of local expertise in content development. Migration from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting, on the other hand, has brought about the challenge of inadequate local television content. Currently, Tanzania faces shortage of locally made English and Kiswahili television programs for local service demands. Dependency on the imported content hinders opportunities for domestic economic empowerment as well as capacity development within the context of ICT. The Tanzania ICT industry has been taking a number of initiatives to address the challenge of language as a barrier to ICT adoption and usage in the country. In 2008, for instance, the first open source Kiswahili application software called Jambo Office was developed and introduced in Tanzania by the University of Dar es Salaam in collaboration with the Royal Swedish IT Consultancy Company. These efforts, however, lacked supportive framework to become operational. Necessary actions need to be taken to improve domestic value added and local content development in the ICT industry. Tanzania as a country has not been able to maximize the economic benefit created by the proliferation of ICT utilization which creates opportunities in terms of value chain activities required in the provision of ICT services, including; software development, hardware manufacturing, hosting activities and training, amongst others. As a result, the country continues to be dependent on foreign imports in the process denying itself opportunities for domestic economic empowerment and capacity building. While local content and development of electronic services face a number of challenges, prevalence of Information Technology Enabled Services/ Business Process Outsourcing (ITES/ BPO), which is a global multi-billion dollar ICT industry has potentials in job creation and significant contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). This is a new focus area of concern and calls for a proper policy framework and promotion strategy as the current environment 9