Before laws are passed citizens have a right to contribute to them making sure that their concerns are reflected in the new legislation.
It’s the same principle that has led various bodies to hold consultative workshops with the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services in the drafting of the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill, the e-Transactiosn Bill and the Data protection Bill.
All three draft pieces of ICT legislation are still under review with the next consultative workshop set to be held in the City of Bulawayo on the 21st and 22nd of September 2016 at the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel starting at 9am.
This next workshop which is being held by the Law Development Commission will be in the mold of similar workshops that have been held over the past few months as the Ministry of ICT gathers feedback on what should be incorporated or removed from the 3 draft bills.
The government, through the Ministry of ICT, has urged all citizens to contribute to these laws as they will have an impact on how they access technology and information, make transactions electronically and how their data is used.
If you can’t be in Bulawayo, it’s still worth checking out the draft bills and sending your contributions to the Ministry of ICT via email or in person or even your own legislator.
Speaking up now might be enough to avoid legislation that could be unfair to ICT professionals or severely punishes some issues that have become common in 2016.
