Museum to set up free wi-fi

By Staff reporter | 02 Jul 2019 at 17:17hrs
Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo
THE Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo is set to provide Internet and free wi-fi services at the Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo statue to enable visitors to access information about the departed nationalist.

National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe western region's marketing officer Mr Phineas Chauke said the department was working with Matrix Technologies, an organisation involved in cutting-edge technological innovations.

The Natural History Museum will be the first museum in the country to use the offline wi-fi based information Zone (OWBIZ) platform.

This off-the-net facility will give visitors free access to information on the late Father Zimbabwe, the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe and other heritage sites around Bulawayo like the Matopos and Khami monuments.

"After a highly successful test run at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the OWBIZ facility will be mounted at the Joshua Nkomo Statue in the early days of the month of July as part of commemorating the anniversary of the late national liberation icon who passed away on the 1st of July in 1999," said Mr Chauke.

"One may be able to download the information in real time for free. The application can be downloaded and used for free within the OWBIZ zone and no data is needed."

Catholic University of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo campus' ICT lecturer and IT analyst, Mr Kudakwashe Maguraushe, gave thumbs up to the initiative.

"For starters, there might be a way of abusing the system," he said.

"However, I believe they have a special way of customising the platform to broadcast the intended information about the late veteran leader.

"In this day and age, I believe it is something possible to filter in information and allowing people connectivity to know more about information of national value and such initiatives and should be spread all over the country so as to reduce the information gap by rolling up free accessible information platforms."

Bulawayo Polytechnic College head of library and information sciences department Tariro Dube said the platform should get the support it deserves in making information accessible to the generality of the population.

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