{"id":85730,"date":"2026-02-25T16:37:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:58:54","slug":"ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","title":{"rendered":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong> <\/span>The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) has held a stakeholder validation workshop on the draft National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy and a combined national strategy for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions (4IR and 5IR).<\/b><\/p>\n

The engagement took place at the George Hotel on 24 February 2026, bringing together key stakeholders to review and validate the proposed policy framework.<\/p>\n

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Principal Secretary, EBIS Director Sabelo Dlamini said the gathering marked a significant milestone in Eswatini\u2019s journey towards becoming a first-world nation. He reminded participants that consultations held last year had gathered diverse inputs and technical expertise, which informed the draft STI Policy and the comprehensive 4IR and 5IR Strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to validate these blueprints to ensure they truly reflect the heartbeat of Eswatini\u2019s future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dlamini described the workshop as a deliberate and strategic step towards shaping the country\u2019s economic future. He stressed that embracing the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions goes beyond adopting new technologies and requires a complete re-engineering of systems to build a productive, vibrant and human-centred economy.<\/p>\n

Quoting Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum, he noted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents an opportunity to harness converging technologies to create an inclusive, human-centred future.<\/p>\n

The ministry aims to transition the workforce from low-value operations to high-value activities common in industrialised nations. By leveraging artificial intelligence, automation and the Internet of Things, government seeks to promote sustainable, high-quality and better-paying jobs.<\/p>\n

Dlamini cited countries such as South Korea, Germany and Singapore as examples of nations that achieved digital prominence through clear data governance, strong research and development investment and a focus on digital literacy. He said Eswatini\u2019s approach integrates 5IR principles, combining technological efficiency with sustainability and social well-being.<\/p>\n

He highlighted the \u201cGovernment in Your Hand\u201d initiative, aimed at digitising public services and eliminating long queues and paperwork.<\/p>\n

Priority areas under the strategy include Education 5.0 reforms, smart agriculture, health digitalisation, smart utility grids and expanded e-commerce for SMEs. To address cybersecurity risks, government has enacted the Computer Crime and Cybercrime Act (2022) and the Data Protection Act (2022).<\/p>\n

Dlamini urged stakeholders to actively contribute to refining the strategy, emphasising that collaborative efforts across sectors are essential to transforming the nation\u2019s economy and improving livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Eswatini<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) has held a stakeholder validation workshop on the draft National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy and a combined national strategy for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions (4IR and 5IR). The engagement took place at the George Hotel on 24 February 2026, bringing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":85728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,9,242],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-85730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-miscellaneous","category-to-homepage","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\"},\"wordCount\":408,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"miscellaneous\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\",\"name\":\"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY - Eswatini\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY - Eswatini","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","og_site_name":"Eswatini","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY","datePublished":"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy"},"wordCount":408,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg","keywords":["Eswatini"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","miscellaneous","to-homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy","name":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY - Eswatini","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-25T16:37:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-25T17:58:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Eswatini. The Ministry of Information ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/sm_1772042239.058228.jpg","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/ict-ministry-validates-sti-policy-and-4ir-5ir-strategy#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ICT MINISTRY VALIDATES STI POLICY AND 4IR\/5IR STRATEGY"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/","name":"Eswatini","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}