6 STRENGTHENING THE STAKEHOLDERS OF THE ICT SECTOR 6-1 Showing the Political will on ICT development The Government of Sierra Leone recognises the fact that there is a fundamental need to modernise ICT in Sierra Leone, as it is critical to the socio-economic development of the country. Given the nascent stage of the sector, regulation will be pro-growth and development focused. The Telecommunication Act 2006 (and its subsequent amendment) is the current legal framework that governs the ICT sector. However, given the fact that ICT substantively represents a broader domain than Telecommunications, it is necessary to further amend the Telecommunications Act to reflect modern trends of convergence. 6-2 Developing the role of the ICT Committee of the Parliament The role of Parliament is central for the enactment of all laws. In particular, the legal framework required for the ICT sector cuts across other sectors especially in areas of security and data protection. It is therefore important that the Parliamentary Committee on ICTs be made familiar with ICT science and technology innovation, policy formulation, planning and monitoring. This will ensure that key sector issues are properly understood in legislation enactment and are properly communicated through the various parliamentary constituency channels. Additional objectives for the development of the ICT Committee’s role include: • To expose the committee to regional and international instruments governing the development and implementation of emerging technologies; • To periodically review the roles and strategies of the parliamentary ICT technology. • To share and learn from various regional best practices; • Employing ICT tools to manage the legislative process. 6-3 Developing the role of the Ministry The Ministry shall be identified as being foremost in ICT. In order to ensure an effective implementation of the ICT policy and to enable it to fulfil its obligations as defined in the Telecommunications Act, the Ministry should facilitate the in-house training of personnel. The Ministry shall review and make recommendations to the Public Sector Reform Unit (PSRU) and HRMO on ICT entry requirements for prospective communication staff. It shall also be strengthened to effectively carry out the following tasks: • To monitor and review the implementation plans of this ICT policy; • To set up and to regularly update a web site to publish all the texts and the events related to the development of the ICT sector. ICT Policy of Sierra Leone Page 35 / 63