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The Ethiopian government announced plans to improve access and quality of Information and Communication Technology in the country.

The announcement was made in Addis Ababa on the 11th of December by Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, Deputy Prime Minister at the 2nd annual conference of Ethiopian ICT Entrepreneurship held this week.

The government is working hard to expand the ICT infrastructure in the country he explained in his speech.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Communications & Information Technology launched 49 e-services in order to enable seven governmental institutions to offer online services. The office announced the launching of the e-service on at event held at the Churchill Hotel.

The e-service installation and development was conducted by two private IT solution providers at a cost of 3.8 million Birr. Africom Technologies Plc developed 33 of the e-services portal for 2.8 million Birr while E-System Africahad supplied the remaining 16 at a cost of 1 million Birr it was said at the time.

It is to be remembered that the two companies won the tender for the project last year.

Techno Brain has become the first Ethiopian IT company to be awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certificate by the International Certification Network- IQNET- and Namko.

The award was issued in recognition of the top IT solutions Techno Brain has rolled out into a software market as well as the solutions it offers under IT Systems Integration, Consultancy, IT Software Services, IT Education and Training.

The certificate is a major endorsement for Techno Brain and its products and services to its clients.

IBM is launching plans to increase its market share in Ethiopia with increasing demand for its products. The increased demand from local partners has been quite significant according to an IBM recruitment event held at the Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel this week.  The event was attended by representatives from various governmental and private institutions.

Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with ever increasing opportunities said Gordon Lehman, Market Development Advisor for IBM.

IBM is seeking to invest in Ethiopia for these reasons and the stable macro-economy, investment protection, stable government, transparent legal framework and streamlined procedures according to Lehman.

The bid put out by the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority has received interest from IT companies, four of which presented financial and technical proposal for evaluation.

The bid is for the installation a single window system for the tax authority comprising of a single access for request and communication of documents required for clearance, for both importers and exporters offering synchronized service by government institutions.

This single window system, if installed by ERCA, will replace the current manual system in the office which is slow.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority is ready to introduce a new customs management software system expected to cost an estimated 162 million birr. The new IT system will replace the Automated Systems for Customs and Data currently being used by the authority.  

ERCA decided to change its current technology installed in 12 years ago because it is not able to accommodate the new systems required as part of the customs reform program according to Nigussie Seid, Team Coordinator for Software Development with the authority.

The current system is unable to integrate or interface with the custom reforms that are underway he explained.

More than 87% of the software sold in Ethiopia is pirated announced the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Organization. An study conducted by the EIPO revealed that most of the software sold in the capital city is pirated or illegally downloaded according to Birhanu Adelo Director General of the organization.

The EIPO has signed a partnership agreement with the Microsoft Company to combat illegal counterfeit software entering the country he noted.

The organization has committed to working with Microsoft to increase public awareness on the advantages of using genuine software including the security and reliability it offers to businesses explained Birhanu.

Piracy will have a detrimental effect on the economy and other national interests claimed Birhanu.

Samsung electronics is to launch e-learning technology for Ethiopian elementary schools in association with the Ministry of Education.

The electronics company is in the process of conducting a survey of the elementary curriculum to integrate it with its Smart Education Environment technology. The interactive e-learning technology has an estimated 25% coverage in Africa it was said.

The smart school solution is one the best developed technology on offer from Samsung according to Tadewos Awel, Country Manager of Samsung East Africa.

The rate of Indian investment in Ethiopia is increasing due to the ideal investment environment in the country. Successful Indian investors in Ethiopia are inviting others to join them said the Ethiopian Embassy in Ethiopia.

There are many Indian investors in Ethiopia engaged in investment projects such as agriculture, leather processing, agro-processing, mining and steel processing said Genet Zewede, Ethiopian Ambassdor to Ethiopia.

Four more Indian investors have been licensed to engage in sugar manufacturing, garment, cotton and denim production between the months of July and September she said.

Investment by Indian business people has also included investment in large scale commercial farms with more land given to investors from India than any other foreign investors.

Ethiopia is one the African countries designated as emerging in the telecom sector according to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The number of cellular phone subscribers in Ethiopia has reached 18 million in Ethiopia which exhibits the increasing progress of ICT in the country according to Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, Minister of Communication and Information Technology.

Dr. Debretsion made these remarks at the opening of the Africa Regional Bureau of International Telecommunications Union, Performance Evaluation Meeting 2011 held in Addis Ababa last week.