Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has emerged as the main driver of development. ICT encompasses the broad fields of data/information processing and communications by means of computer and telecommunication techniques.

Cognizant of ICT as enablers of broad-based social and economic development, the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) is taking measures to address major ICT challenges in the Country, which include poor infrastructure, inadequate skilled workforce and high telecommunication costs, and to enhance its growth, among other things, by encouraging investment in the sector with focus on infrastructure and human resources development.

The priority areas of the National ICT Policy are building up of telecommunications infrastructure; establishment of reliable, secure and affordable national information network; provision of leased line for value added service network and public information gateways; sectoral and institutional in-house network capacity building; development of ICT human resource; contents applications development; diffusion and dissemination of ICT services and products; ensuring data security; setting of standards; and promotion of research and development in ICT.

The Government recognizes that an enabling policy and regulatory environment is a necessary condition for a well-functioning, competitive growth of the ICT markets. Any gaps in regulatory framework are likely to seriously constrain the efficiency and development of the ICT industry. It is on this background that the Ethiopian Information and Communication Development Agency (EICTDA), in line with the powers vested to it by Proclamation No. 360/2003 , has initiated a National ICT Competency Certification Programme.