IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

More than 100,000 Bhutanese were trained under the Chiphen Rigpel project so far.

This was announced at an event marking the project’s fourth year yesterday.

Chiphen Rigpel is a project designed to help Bhutanese society transition to an IT-enabled knowledge society.

Funded by the Indian government, it was launched in 2010. The Nu 2.05B project is scheduled to end next year.

Should a civil servant be bubbling with ideas and is motivated to help improve things that lie outside their direct sphere of concern and influence, a platform is awaiting at the Royal Civil Service Commission.

Any officials in the Performance and Management category could take up the temporary post as the Innovation and Creativity Officer (ICO).

Every agency, ministries and department will be entitled an ICO, who are eligible to apply for the time or assignment bound role.

I was in the tiny Himalayan kingdom last week and the Internet was working reasonably well. Yes, even Buddhist monks are using mobile phones and engaging with the social media. It may not be too long before the Bhutanese can pray on the move thanks to apps. Happiness may acquire a "digital definition" in the near future.

The government Enterprise Architecture, e-GIF (eGovernment Interoperability Framework) of the Royal Government, led by the Department of Information Technology and Telecom (DITT), of the information and communications ministry was selected for the Open Group 2017 awards for innovation and excellence in Enterprise Architecture (EA), according to a DITT press release.

The Open Group, is a global consortium that enables the achievement of business objectives through neutral and open IT standards. The 2017 award was conducted mainly to encourage and motivate governments or organisations to come up with innovative solutions in designing and implementing effective EA against various challenges and complexities of developing economies. The award signifies the worldwide recognition and respect for e-GIF besides validating that Bhutan had adopted the international best practices in EA.

The first batch of civil servants to be trained in information and technology under the Chipen Rigphel project, which plans to “ICTise Bhutan”, began yesterday.

Twenty-one civil servants in P1 and P2 levels started their five-day training at the training centre at the Royal Institute of Management that was inaugurated yesterday.

RIM’s program head Kinga Jurmey said the training would build IT skills among civil servants to understand the concept of e-governance and analyse data.

After the implementation of the e-Government Policy, all government agencies will have to adopt citizen-centric delivery of online services.

All government services will be made available online.

However, Information of Communications Minister DN Dhungyel said that “all government services” might have to be defined. He said it might not be possible to provide every government service online.

Several doctors in eastern parts of the country are increasingly using social media, apart from telephone and web-based system, to consult or seek advice from specialists.

Chief medical officer with the Pemagatshel hospital, Dr Thukten Chophel, over a telephonic interview, said telemedicine, for the past two years, has been picking up, and the number of cases consulted has been increasing as well.

The regulator stated India was ranked at 113th within the Wi-Fi or cellular broadband phase. As per newest Trai knowledge, there have been about 8 crore subscribers utilizing broadband by their cell phones or dongles.

“India is 114th in terms of ‘ICT access, ICT use and ICT skills.” “India ranks 125th for fixed broadband penetration.” We seriously need to think about it,” Trai said. This issue needs to be resolved otherwise who will lay fibre, ” Trai Chairman Rahul Khullar said. If BB could be effectively extended in areas where optical fibre cable is presently existing, the subscription figures would be much higher,” TRAI said.

As His Majesty the King concludes a historic six-day state visit to India today, the government of India (GoI) agreed to grant Rs 2.05 billion for the development of ICT in Bhutan and Rs 250 million as assistance towards the rehabilitation and reconstruction works for the earthquake affected areas in eastern Bhutan.

The Indian government has already assured the Rs 2.05bn grant during the prime minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley’s visit to India earlier this year.