Following the nominated list of ministers that President Museveni submitted to the Parliament for vetting, the ICT fraternity in Uganda was all smiles with the appointment of Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda as new Minister for ICT. Various industry practitioners view him as a sober, balanced and articulate person with height integrity and one who tends to rise above pettiness in the way he deals with issues.

Dr. Ruhakana has represented Uganda and the United Nations in various capacities. All through his political career, his soft spoken nature has been outstanding. The selection of Dr. Rukahana by President Museveni is a sign of the governments focus on the importance of ICT in the coming years.

These sentiments have led to a discussion on the online I-Network Uganda community about the need to have a formally recognised and functional Computer Society in the country. Efforts have been made in the recent past to revive the now defunct Uganda Computer Society (UCS) but with not much progress registered. Industry members agree that to have meaningful interaction with the Government the ICT community needs to emulate what has been done by the lawyers through the Uganda Law Society and the Engineers through the Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers (UIPE).

All in all, the newly nominated Minister for ICT already has the goodwill of a community ready to help in shaping the future of the ICT industry in Uganda.