on the Internet. Despite the innovation of relatively few websites, the Web has yet to become a dominant medium for society to communicate, particularly because of the few websites that are in Kiswahili. However, an encouraging phenomenon is that Kiswahili is recognised as being the African language with the greatest Web presence. 2.3.3 ICT in the workplace There is sufficient evidence that several large organisations and companies make extensive use of networked computers, some with Internet access. The banking sector makes heavy use of ICT to provide improved customer service with some banks using Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) or public leased lines to interconnect their branches and cash dispensing Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). However, anecdotal evidence suggests that smaller companies, and many institutions outside Dar es Salaam, make marginal use of ICT in their daily operations. The greatest obstacle to effective use of ICT in the workplace according to the Sida Survey and the eReadiness Report is the low capacity of human capital in the use and maintenance of ICT. 2.4 The economy 2.4.1 ICT employment opportunities The supply of IT professionals is considerably less than current demand, especially in the areas of higher skills and experience. Furthermore, job mobility in the ICT sector is very high. Therefore, there is a need for increased emphasis on the human capital development aspects to address this situation. 2.4.2 e-Commerce Only few local websites recently began offering limited e-business services. However these services are constrained by the lack of a national payment system, local credit cards, and a legislative framework appropriate for e-business. These are constraints that need to be addressed urgently. Most significantly, the legal framework does not provide adequate safeguards to create an environment of trust for e-business transactions to take place. Consequently, financial institutions are not able to set up provisions for supporting e-transactions for their own, and each other’s clients. 2.4.3 e-Government Various arms of government have made significant progress in deploying ICT in e-government solutions. These solutions can be categorised into both e-government and e-governance solutions. In the category of e-government, several departments are transforming their operations by deploying ICT. However, no mechanisms exist for ensuring that these major initiatives are coordinated or developed within a holistic strategic government plan. To make further progress and reap additional rewards, government needs to develop a comprehensive and holistic e-government strategy for urgent implementation. Not only will this enhance government productivity, but it will also enable the government, as a “model user” of ICT, to become a driving force for sustainable progress in the national ICT arena. The possibility of providing e-governance services depends upon the existence of an effective e-government infrastructure through which the public service can communicate internally and with the intended beneficiaries of its services. Page 5