By Andrew Magombo
Lilongwe, September 17, Mana: President Lazarus Chakwera is expected to preside over the 2021 International Information and Communication Technology Exposition (ICT Expo) slated to take place from September 27 to 29 at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.
This was revealed on Thursday in Lilongwe at a ceremony where National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) presented a dummy cheque of K2 million to ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) to expedite preparations for the upcoming event.
In his address, NCST Director General, Professor Elijah Wanda, said under the theme “Mobilising Businesses with Digital Technology Beyond COVID-19 Crisis”, the ICT expo will provide a platform which will help revitalise the country’s economy through technological innovations advancement.
Wanda added that the Malawi 2063 Agenda has ICT as one of the key pillars in attaining development goals.
He said in line with COVID-19 response recovery, there is a lot the country can do in identifying and setting out ICT priority areas for research.
“Malawi has been hit hard by the global pandemic like the rest of the world. The 2021 international ICT Expo will provide a platform to build synergy among local and international firms in showcasing innovative and diversified products,” he explained.
Wanda, however, pleaded for the protection of innovations which will be exhibited during the exposition.
He said the innovations will have key thematic areas, including Smart Agriculture, Digital Health, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning among others.
Speaking on the sidelines, ICTAM President, Bram Fudzulani, revealed that this year’s ICT Expo would be privileged to have the State President who he said has a heart for ICT development.
Commenting on the donation towards preparations of the event, Fudzulani, expressed delight with the gesture by NCST, describing it as timely ahead of the exposition.
“As you are aware, events like these require adequate resources, hence through this partnership, we anticipate making strides in the fight against COVID-19,” he said.
Fudzulani further said it was important that policies should be implemented based on technicalities on the ground, as such, the ICT Expo would give stakeholders a chance to map out how the country can forge beyond COVID-19.
