5. Strengthen existing IT training institutions and setup new IT centers of excellence in all districts in Uganda to develop the requisite skills in various IT aspects including software and hardware development, network management and security through inservice training. 6. Encourage academic institutions to embrace e-learning so as to enable equitable regional access to IT training in all parts of the country 7. Ensure inclusion of a comprehensive and regularly updated computer literacy module in the curriculum at all levels of education using international benchmarks as reference. 8. Establish an accreditation council to ensure quality IT education and training 9. Promote “Training of Trainers” scheme to boost capacity building in IT. 10. Encourage IT companies to play a significant role in IT education through internship and industrial training schemes 11. Ensure equal opportunity in basic IT training at all levels taking into consideration special interest groups namely; Women, Youth and PWDs. 2.4 Research and Development Research and development in the IT industry is currently almost non-existent. Activity in this area is mainly in institutions of higher learning which are doing it at small scale with limited funds. Government policy in this area will be to prioritize IT research. Content development including translation of digital content to local languages is hardly done, yet quite essential. To this end government shall: Policy Strategies 1. Setup a high level institutional framework to coordinate and focus R&D efforts in the country 2. Mobilize funds for R & D in identified Universities and encourage joint R&D efforts between the private sector and the universities. 3. Encourage industries to set up R & D centers at tertiary level through matching grants and focused joint projects. 8