Status of ICT Development and Cyber Laws in Rwanda. Presenter; Mmasi Raphael Director of National Computing Centre at RITA

Rwanda facts Location: Heart of Africa Population: 8.3 Million Land Area: 26,340 sq. km. GDP: US$ 2b Agriculture – 47% (91% of the population) Industry – 18% (2% of the population) Services – 35% (7% of the population) GDP per capita country rank: 153 of 177 Life Expectancy at Birth: 38.9 in 2002 Languages: Kinyarwanda, French, English Telephone Lines: Inter. Bandwidth: 30,000 (fixed) 18 MB Upstream 300,000 (GSM) 45 MB Downstream 20,000 (CDMA) 9/18/2018

Vision 2020 Agricultural Based Economy Knowledge Based Economy 20 Years

The Process of formulating national ICT Policy and Plan (NICI Plans) The Rwandan ICT-led Socio-Economic Development Policy and Plan Development Process supported by the Economic Commission for African (ECA) within the framework of the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI) began in November 1998. The Framework Document was released in October 1999 and the Policy Document widely referred to as NICI I (2001-2005) was adopted in March 2000 by Cabinet.

NICI I & NICI II In March/June 2005 NICI I was reviewed and lessons learnt become part of the genesis for NICI II to be implemented 2006 – 2010. The second of a four-stage process in a 20 year development program to be developed within the Vision 2020 for Rwanda, NICI II (2006-2010) was adopted by the Cabinet last month. Note that: NICI II is geared towards poverty alleviation using ICT as a vehicle. The Rwandan ICT4D process is strategically focus on both the development of the local industry targeted at the export market as well as on using ICT as an enabler of Rwanda’s broad developmental goals.

Summary of the Achievements under NICI-2005 Plan Rwanda through the implementation of the various sub-plans of the NICI-I Plan has made progress in a number of areas including: Human Resource Development Development of ICT infrastructure Deployment of ICTs to facilitate Government administration and service delivery Deployment and the exploitation of ICTs within the educational system Growth of ICTs in the Private Sector

Development process of NICI II Plan Not about Technology, but Development Wealth-Creation focus, Poverty Reduction (PRSP) & Employment Generation Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and WSIS plan of action

Major Projects 27 government buildings are connected through Kigali metropolitan ring by Terracom communications Fiber optic on the way to other cities in Rwanda, already 350 km laid US$10M Grant by the World Bank To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations Fiber Optic E-Rwanda SmartGov EASSy Project Major Projects SmartGov- Locally developed budget application system (can be easily exported within the region). Rwanda was selected to host the SPV for the implementation of the project (22 countries involved) Establish a national research & education network to acquire high bandwidth at low cost and to encourage online dialogue, knowledge transfer and content creation. National Research & education Network Fiber Optic over power transmission lines ELECTROGAZ under the Netherlands support (schools, health centres-5 km) Karisimbi Project The Karisimbi Integrated Energy and Communications Project- 50Mbps by 9th December 2006, 200Mbps by June 2007 Radio & TV broadcasting, Data communications, video conferencing, telemedicine Air traffic management and metrological information

E-Rwanda Project eRwanda is a project supported by World Bank aimed at using ICT to Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations as well as to, Enhance citizen’s service delivery and information systems, in particular in rural areas.

40 m Antenna at the Summit

TOWARDS RATIONALISED REGIONAL NETWORKS EASSy project plus backhaul links Plus SRII project Plus Comtel project Plus other infrastructure TOWARDS RATIONALISED REGIONAL NETWORKS Here we add a fictitious network of infrastructure owned by non- telecom operators.

The Current Legal system in Rwanda Transactions that are paper based methods. The e-transactions hindered by legal obstacles( written documents manuscript signatures, authentication in transactions). Contracts to be made by deed in writing and evidenced using original documents

Status (cont.) laws designed to facilitate paper-based transactions. Lack of Regulatory steps to secure e- transactions such as digital signatures, e-payment etc. Lack of e-dispute settlement mechanisms Should we apply 1800s Postal Rules on e-communications?

Jurisdiction problem Which legal system will apply when dealing with cyber crimes? Which court will have jurisdiction? The cyberspace has no boundaries. A crime can be committed anywhere in the world. Which country has the right to arrest offenders and prosecute? Do we need Extradition treaties for all countries in the world?

On going initiatives Draft e-commerce law has been tabled to the parliament for ratification. Promised to be out before the end of November. Drafting process of consumer protection law is under way. Drafting of IPR law has been completed by consultants, it is now under review by the Ministry of Justice. Drafting of e-legislation under eRwanda project to start soon.

Rwanda Today Politically stable and crime free Economically stable with steady economic growth Minimal corruption in public and private sector Highly motivated and committed people with enthusiasm to develop skills Government and people supportive of foreign investors People are eager and quick to embrace new technologies and lifestyle.

Coming soon NDC - Home of Government critical mission application systems, Disaster Recovery site to be located at the Ministry of Defense, and outside Rwanda, Build in security at all level of the development of National Data Centre (NDC), Establishing CERT alongside with National Data Centre is of paramount importance.

The Way Forward To establish centre for internet security expertise that shall provide reliable, trusted 24 hours contact point for emergencies; To study internet security vulnerabilities; To conduct national awareness campaign on cyber security using specific case study on how cyber crime can be dangerous for national economy; To provide cyber security alert. Capacity building and training Technical support and techniques know how.

Thank you Individually we will partially succeed if not fail, but together we will surely succeed and excel.