Compliance To Digital Services Act Critical

The country’s private and public sectors have less than 24 months to digitise their services under the Digital Services Act. This is part of the government’s drive to push for digital transformation to modernise operations, boost efficiency, and enhance user experience. The Minister of Communications and Innovation, Mr David Tshere, said this at the beginning of the Botswana Cyber Drill, organised by the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), that the 24-month grace period, which started in November last year, gave the private and public sectors an opportunity to prepare for the transition.

“The Digital Services Act gives us a 24-month grace period to prepare and put together all necessary enabling infrastructure and to roll out digitalisation,” Minister Tshere said on Tuesday. “The private and the public sectors will be required to offer their services digitally; that is what the law says,” he added. He said the government had moved from a reactive posture to a proactive structure and a unified national framework, adding that a digital nation could not be built on a weak foundation, as it required trust, security, and the rule of law.

The government last year passed the Cyber Security Act, which was subsequently signed into law and is waiting to commence by April. The key output of the law is the establishment of the National Cybersecurity Authority, which will provide strategic oversight, coordination, and policy direction for cybersecurity across all sectors of the country’s economy. The Act also formally strengthened the mandate of the National Computer Security Incident Response, he added.

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Minister Tshere further told stakeholders that cybersecurity threats were no longer abstract and distant technical concepts. “They are here, prevalent, and increasingly sophisticated,” the minister warned, stressing that cyber threats distracted essential services, compromised sensitive information, and caused tangible economic and operational harm, resulting in loss of business and customer confidence. He said some businesses had been attacked locally, adding that the cybersecurity drill provided a safe and structured environment to learn from global experts, shared experiences, and developed critical skills to handle real-world cybersecurity crises.

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