ICT SMME Development Strategy "Unlocking the potential of ICT SMMEs"

"The ICT SMME Development Strategy is a sector specific intervention to address challenges facing SMMEs operating in the ICT sector. It sets the policy context and defines the vision for the development of the ICT SMMEs in South Africa up to 2020, and outlines the support mechanisms required to realise this vision. The focus of this Strategy is two-pronged, that is, it focuses on accelerating the development and growth of small enterprises in the ICT sector as well as on creating support mechanisms to increase the levels of uptake and usage of ICT services by SMMEs across various sectors of the economy.

The Strategy gives an overview of the SMMEs operating in the ICT sector, thus providing details on their structure, design, use of ICTs, contribution to job creation and economic growth at large. It is premised on the challenges expressed by SMMEs in the ICT sector in various consultations with the Department and also on an analysis of the ICT industry value chain study that was conducted. The study focused largely on identifying opportunities for SMME development in the Telecommunications and Information Technology areas, and also highlighted challenges that are hampering the development of SMMEs, some of which are barriers to entry into the ICT sector by new SMMEs."