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

2. 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: in 2002
Languages:
Kinyarwanda, French, English
Telephone Lines: Inter. Bandwidth:
30,000 (fixed) MB Upstream
300,000 (GSM) 45 MB Downstream
20,000 (CDMA)
9/18/2018

3. Vision 2020 Agricultural Based Economy Knowledge Based Economy
20 Years

4. 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 ( ) was adopted in March 2000 by Cabinet.

5. 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 ( ) 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 40 m Antenna at the Summit

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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?

14. 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?

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

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