ICTC: IT’S TIME TO TEAM UP AGAINST CYBERCRIME

The ICTC Director-General, Dr Mkundwe Mwasaga made a call on Wednesday while speaking to journalists, citing five key areas the commission is going to address during the two-day cyber security conference planned to be held from April 4-5, 2024 in Arusha.

Both local and international technology stakeholders and experts will attend the meeting. In a bid to promote inclusivity, the commission plans to sponsor the attendance of 100 women involved in technology-related fields in Tanzania, including female students from universities, at the conference.

“Since technology now plays a key role in many fields such as education, medicine, agriculture, payments systems, business and many more, cyber protection is the most important component that must be addressed bearing in mind that if someone gets scammed through the internet, they lose trust in the networks,” noted Dr Mwasaga.

He expressed the commission’s commitment in overseeing cyber security matters in undertaking comprehensive digital transformation.

“We know that cyber security is changing and people are constantly changing tactics, so it’s something we must keep on learning to make sure that things are improving,” he said.

He said issues to be discussed during the planned meeting include looking at how cyber security measures can contribute to enhancing the resilience of economic sector. Safeguarding the cyberspace in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and ensuring a secure way of utilising the emerging technologies effectively will be tabled for discussion, he said.

“We are aware that some government offices have started using artificial intelligence, so we will discuss the cyber security aspect that involves these emerging technologies,” said Dr Mwasaga.

Additionally, he said that the conference aims to discuss the proper facilitation of a safe, sustainable and inclusive cyberspace.

According to Mwasaga, raising awareness among ordinary citizens on how to use networks properly is key. We will have various experts during the meeting, and we will get experience other countries,” Dr Mwasaga added.

Dr Mwasaga emphasised on the importance of investing in digital transformation to support economic growth. He pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries experienced economic setbacks, but only a few managed to recover due to their investments in digital transformation.

In a successful digital transformation Dr Mwasaga mentioned five pillars including imparting digital skills to all Tanzanians, ensuring security for all individuals, promoting inclusive communication services, and fostering digital innovation and research.

According to the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) quarterly report for December released last year, a total of 21,788 fraud incidents were recorded, compared to 12,603 cases registered in the same period in 2022.

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