7 businesses in all parts of the country. Current initiatives must be coordinated and tightly managed and integrated if maximum service and cost benefits are to be achieved. Botswana needs to develop a formal eGovernment strategy as a matter of priority. Websites being introduced by Ministries are not designed around the needs of clients and have no common standards or “look and feel”. Without an overarching eGovernment strategy (designed in the context of a broader public sector reform programme), there is a danger of creating “cyber stovepipes”, wasting money, increasing costs and missing opportunities for service improvements through Electronic Service Delivery. Many communities would benefit significantly from on-line access to basic government information and services. Information on health, jobs and education can be provided easily and have significant impact. Similarly, simple on-line transactions, such as licence, registration and permit applications, would improve customer service standards and reduce costs for citizens and government. 3.10 Public policy can be a help or hindrance in the development of a mature networked economy. The favourable climate that can be encouraged by an appropriate legislative and regulatory regime encourages communities, organisations and individuals to invest in and use ICTs. Important areas, such as Internet availability, the use of ICTs in schools and health facilities, and the growth of e-commerce are all influenced by public policy and the legal framework developed in Botswana. To fully implement the programmes that will be needed to fulfil the goals of Maitlamo and Vision 2016, it will be necessary for Botswana to have in place an evolving, responsive legal and policy infrastructure that is just as important as the physical infrastructure in supporting investment and economic development. 4.0 Legislative Gap Analysis: The Legal Framework Needed to Foster an ICT Strategy 4.1 In general, countries wishing to participate actively in the modern connected world must have in place policies, rules or legislation dealing with a number of areas. Legal certainty must be assured for electronic commercial transactions that can be enforced. Electronic documents and signatures must be capable of being authenticated. Citizens must be able to trust the electronic environment because issues of transactional security, privacy and data integrity have been addressed. The potential for fraud, obfuscation, cross-border and domestic transmission of objectionable content, as well as new criminal behaviour (e.g., the introduction of viruses into a network or intentional and