The government has been urged to take advantage of the electronic governance systems to rally various stakeholders behind service provision while involving citizens in decision making.

Experts at the ongoing two-day Electronic Governance Forum, convened by the Ministry of Youth and ICT, and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, that opened in Kigali, yesterday, said this was a feasible way to tackle emerging challenges to development efforts.

The forum, attended by over 200 ICT policymakers, members of academia and private sector players from Commonwealth nations, is dubbed "The Commonwealth e-Governance Africa Summit 2015.” It is held under the theme, "Smart Governance through a Networked Government.”

Vincenzo Aquaro, the chief of E-Government Branch–United Nations Public Administration Network department of economic affairs, said the numerous challenges that governments face require collaborative efforts which could be achieved through the convenience of e-Government systems.

"As we near the deadline for the 2015 Millennium Development Goals and begin to lay the ground work for the sustainable development goals it is clear that all governments are faced with complex multifaceted challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, peace and security which no single actor can effectively deal with on their own,” Aquaro said.

He noted that electronic systems would help enhance trust between the government and citizens, eliminate corruption and fraud and empower members of the public to participate in governance and decision making.

"Addressing these challenges and turning them into opportunities is often dependent on innovation, accountability and responsiveness which require increasing collaboration among agencies of all levels of government and non-governmental actors,” Aquaro added.

The Minister for Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, said Rwanda had its sights set on achieving a fully functional self-service, paperless system government by 2018.

"We want to make sure that ICT becomes part of (our lifestyle) with all citizens being able to receive services,” the minister said.

Nsengimana said government was keen on dealing with challenges that were in the way of implementing e-Government systems such as energy, affordability of gadgets, literacy levels, among others.

ICT in sustainable devt

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, Prof Tim Unwin, lauded Rwanda for using ICT and e-Governance for sustainable development as is evident in several indicators.

"The progress of about 28 per cent internet penetration, over 70 per cent mobile phone penetration and the recently adopted cyber security policy are some of the indicators of the government’s efforts toward achieving the benefits of e-Governance systems,” Unwin said.

The forum also comes during the first phase of the institution of Rwanda Online Platform, which aims at making all government services available online for improved service delivery.

The platform will be made possible courtesy of a partnership between the government and a private firm, Rwanda Online Platform Limited.

The first phase of the initiative kicked off in August, last year, with 10 select institutions expected to be automated by May.

The forum is discussing the way forward in areas such as achieving next generation government, implementation of strategies, government business process re-engineering, ICT investment in local government and accessible governance.

Rwanda is currently working to leverage latest ICT capabilities such as analytics, social media, mobility, among others, to deliver a transparent, efficient, citizen centric and accountable governance.

Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is an international body based in London engaged in multilateral collaboration of ICTs and uses its experience and expertise to support its members in integrating ICTs to deliver interventions that enrich people within the Commonwealth and beyond.

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