Information Communication Technologies (ICT) champions across the world are every day devising new ways of making their case. While more Information technology (IT) gadgets, the backbone of ICTs, are being created and existing ones upgraded, there is a sustained campaign for the usage of ICTs. And Zambia is not lagging behind at all.

One example of such sustained efforts in this thrust by Zambian ICT champions is an upcoming beauty pageantry where the organizers say they want to drive home the message of information age and therefore empower women through entertainment.

The information age is the current stage in societal development which began to emerge at the end of the twentieth century. This period is marked by the increased production, transmission, consumption of and reliance on information. It is a networked world. And ICTs are the building blocks of this Networked World. Examples of ICTs systems include the internet, mobile phone systems, broadcast radio and TV systems, but ICTs are essential to many other day-to-day activities. In a supermarket for example, checkout staff use an ICT system to scan bar codes and obtain prices.

Zita Mumbolemena, one of the organizers of the upcoming ‘Miss ICT Zambia’ says:

“Beauty pageants, due to the glamour that characterizes their execution, attract immediate and huge attention thereby affording the communicator a chance to convey their message. It is a good way to reach multitudes of young people who don’t pay attention to traditional media.”

Ms Mumbolemena who works for Bizcat Communications, an advertising agency, believes that Beauty pageants or contests have become to be recognized as potent and effective marketing tools in the Zambian society especially among the youthful generation. She says Society has largely come to accept beauty pageants as a Zambian lifestyle and that big corporate entities too have embraced beauty pageants and would be willing to sponsor such events

Zita explained that the general objectives of ‘Miss ICT Zambia’ are, among others, to raise and sustain the consciousness of the Zambian public regarding information communication technology, their consumer rights, ICT-related enterprises and industries, and its opportunities.

The project further aims at encouraging young women to take interest in the usage of ICTs and also to promote best practices and usage of ICTs as opposed to using ICT for harmful ends such as those generally referred to as cyber crime. Mobile phones can also be misused like sending people insults or phonographic material using numbers which the recipient does not recognize.

She says that by staging Miss ICT Zambia, a lot of young women will also benefit in the process because the pageants themselves will be young ladies.

“So we are not only looking at promoting ICTs generally but we want to make sure that women benefit’, She said.
She explained that once the participating models are selected through an audition, they will undergo some basic training in computer literacy and basic ICTs and ITs. She said that this training alone should be considered a benefit to models because what they will learn from there will be useful to them in future as that may help them in their careers. It also may help to stimulate interest in the girls to further pursue studies in IT.

She explained that they decided to find new models as opposed to using existing ‘stars’ because they also want to give opportunities to rising ‘stars’ as this will ensure that more women in society are empowered.

The winning model shall be, according to the organizers, an ambassador of ICTs in Zambia. She shall be an ambassador of ICTs in Zambia. NGOs, government agencies, ICT service and goods providers shall work in partnership with her to promote and or showcase their services and products. She shall be the face of ICTs whereby her appearance shall be associated with ICTs. She shall draw attention to ICTs. She shall speak on organised fora about the rights of consumers of ICTs. She shall work in partnership with other ICT champions to advance and promote the usage of ICTs among women since when it comes to ICTs; women appear to be marginalized as compared to their male counterparts.

Zita says that the event shall take place between June and July this year and that currently the organizers are scouting for sponsors to successfully stage this event.

“We are looking for sponsors to come on board and provide IT gadgets as awards for the models. We are also appealing for financial contributions to help us succeed in this Endeavour,” She said.

She explained that they are targeting NGOs and companies that deal in IT and ICTs related activities for sponsorship.

She says that the event maybe held annually to reflect the status of ICTs and to what extent women are using ICTs in that particular year. She says the pageantry won’t be just an other pageantry which focuses on the beauty of women but that while beauty will be considered, they will be more concerned about attributes that reflect the theme of ICTs.