IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The system, which costs the government P32 million, is expected to be completed in September 2010.

Officially opening the first ITEX ICT Conference in Gaborone last week, Mrs Venson-Moitoi said the digital gap was an obstacle to development.

Mrs Venson-Moitoi added that government recognised that the public private cooperation to overcome the digital divide was crucial to the building of an information society.

Briefing the Central District Council full council meeting recently, Ms Omphitlhetse said government had since embarked on a progressive e-government programme as a way of accelerating the delivery of the national information communication technology policy known as Maitlamo.

It is vital that Maitlamo is not seen simply as a huge technology project. For e-Government to be successful, Botswana will need to fundamentally rethink and redesign the current public sector service delivery model.

Civil servants will expect to have modern, automated systems that can help them do their jobs better; public sector executives will anticipate service improvements and significant cost-reduction.

In fact a formal definition of e-government is the application of electronic means in first the interaction between government and citizens, second the interaction of government and businesses, and third to internal government operations, all with the aim of improving efficiency, improving transparency and reducing costs.

The emergence of online communication allows individuals and institutions to instantly access and transfer information across geographic and linguistic boundaries. This has resulted in what some describe as the digital economy. In this view, the ongoing global financial crisis differs from past downturns in that transactions are being driven by the channeling of online information as well as the primary forces of production, supply and demand. Perhaps part of our problem in finding a way out of the current spiral lies in a gap in our collective understanding of the relationship between these factors.

Officially opening the First Government Information Technology Convention and Exhibition Conference (GOVCON) on behalf of presidential affairs minister Mr Daniel Kwelagobe at Phakalane Ms Tlhabologo said the portal web would break the boundaries between government departments and ministries so that all the services provided by government became available from a single point of contact.

Speaking at a press briefing held this week, deputy permanent secretary (health services) Dr Kolaatamo Malefho said that the refurbishment of old hospitals is a high priority concern for his ministry, hence they want to enlist the private sector's help.

When fully operational during the NDP 10, the hub will provide a platform where technology-driven and knowledge intensive industry, researchers, higher educational institutions and the public sectors would work together to foster innovation and new businesses.

We must encourage and support the growth of the ICT industry within Botswana, the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, Mrs Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, said the launch of an RPC Data Citizen Empowerment Deal launch on Friday.

Speaking at the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day in Francistown yesterday, Mr Frank Ramsden said ICT continues to reshape the lives of billions of people by helping them to live, work and play in a converged environment.

The day was celebrated under the theme Better city, Better life with ICTs.

Work on the study started in September 2009 and is expected to be completed by end of February 2010. The development is expected to open new business opportunities within ICT in the country.

Contributing to the proposed national information and communications technology policy, Saleshando said it was sad that the IT sector had proved to be a booming industry worldwide but the country was failing to use it to tackle the country's unemployment situation.

We all need government to be efficient and responsive to the needs of people who access government services and this can certainly be achieved through effective utilisation of information communication technologies. The benefits of E-government are that it is quicker and to a greater degree is reliable. The big step was when the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs introduced the E-Passport. Although the passport is yet to be rolled out to members of the public, it is a big step that the passport security features have been improved. We have heard in the past how the Botswana passport easily landed into the wrong hands, but we hope with the new passport, such things will be a thing of the past.

Mmegi: What is e-governance?

Siele: It is using Information and Communication Technology tools to deliver services to clients by government. These include the SMS (Short Message Service), internet and other ICT tools that are available. It is a cheap and efficient way of delivering services to the people. Since we introduced the SMS service, we have been able to inform people when they can come and collect their documents like Omang. People no longer have to travel long distances to come and enquire on how far we are with processing their documents.

Presenting the draft, Mrs Venson-Moitoi said the technology could be used to meet Botswanas economic diversification plans.

The policy focuses on seven key areas that are expected "to deliver the level of impact required to transform our society and economy," she said.

On his arrival at the Estonian capital Tallinn, Hon. Skelemani was met by Botswana’s Ambassador to Sweden Her Excellency Ms. Bernadette S. Rathedi, who is accredited to Estonia, and Senior Officials from the Estonian Foreign Ministry.

Mr Mokalake said this during the be Mobile launch at Letlhakane on Friday stating that the expansion of the be Mobile services across the country had benefited Batswana.