Government to embark on digital governance

The government is set to acquire Korean technology that integrates the e-government systems of central, local governments, private sector and the citizens. The project dubbed “e-Government Master Plan” is going to be developed basing on the current status of e-government initiatives in public institutions. E-government involves using information technology and especially the internet, to deliver and improve government services, transactions and interactions with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. It also enables citizens to interact and receive services from the government at their convenient time. Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday to kick off the master plan pilot survey, the Minister for Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana said that the project will enhance the government’s efficiency in delivering services to citizens. “With increased digitisation of government services, this will enable our country to grow at a faster rate. It is a tool for integrating the various levels of government and, therefore, enhancing administrative efficiency,” he said. He explained that with the initiative, all government works will be done electronically to allow people take care of government affairs conveniently without time and space restrictions. According to the Ministry of ICT, the e-goverment project will build on the already exixting ICT infrastructures across the country for instance the National Data Centre and Fibre Optic Cable among others. Facilitating administrative affairs The over 3,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable that was rolled out in 2010 seeks to boost access to various broadband services, including applications such as e-governance, e-banking, e-learning and e-health, to become a key enabler of the set target to ensure Rwanda achieves middle-income status by 2017. “The e-government system facilitates administrative affairs. Let’s say that you needed a copy of your resident registration record. You can print out a copy through the electronic civil application system without going to your district office,” explained Hyoungsick Bahn, Rwanda e-goverment master plan consultant from Korea National Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA). He stated that the Korean government has scooped several global awards for recognition in implementing e-government system of administration. “The electronic system enhances the transparency of government work procedures and cooperation among different agencies” The Korean experts will do a survey within a period of five months to assess the existing e-gov initiatives and their relevancy to the public ahead of the implementation of the master plan. In a related development, in June, South Korea’s largest telecom company, Korea Telecom, entered into an agreement with Rwanda to deploy 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband network across the country, a development that will ensure fast, reliable and cheaper internet services. Jean-Baptiste Mutabazi, the head of communication and media regulation at Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (Rura) said that project will improve the service delivery from government to citizens, business and the government agencies. “This is an interesting scheme because it will increase the flow of information between government and citizens through interaction. Basically it will promote efficient administration,” he said. “It’s a good initiative that leads to automation of services, ensuring that information regarding every work of public welfare is easily available to all citizens, eliminating corruption,” Augustin Seminega, the director of the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority, noted. The Korea experts emphasised that, the platform will revolutionise the way government function, ensuring much more transparency in the functioning. The e-government project will also build on a high-speed 4G broadband network that is set to be rolled out in the country, according to the ministry of ICT. “As people from the Private sector we welcome the plan because it will enable the business community to access information that might be important for them at a click,” said Jovani Ntabgoba, the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Consultant ICT Chamber, Rwanda Private Sector Federation.