IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The project under the Uganda Communication Development Fund of the Uganda Communications Commission will see health centers across the country fitted with computers, digital cameras, scanners and other gadgets to allow doctors to diagnose and prescribe treatment to patients in other health centers.

The system, which was implemented at six government ministries and four local government bodies, aims to support the improvement of public sector budgeting, financial management and accounting, and allow disparate departments and systems to share information seamlessly.

The Executive Director of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) – the regulator of the communications sector in Uganda Mr. Godfrey Mutabazi has called on government agencies and other partners to embrace ICT as the country strives to achieve the national broadband policy.

Mr Mutabazi made the remarks on Tuesday as he addressed hundreds of people during the ninth Annual CEO FORUM held at Serena hotel in Kampala.

The strategy will give to life to an electronic procurement system which will go a long way in eradicating corruption associated with procurement and bidding.

The e-Procurement system shall be a web-based system that encompasses the total procurement lifecycle, all procurement modalities, and record all procurement activities.

>The government of Azerbaijan is partnering with Uganda to replicate the ASAN Xidmat, an e-Government system known to have improved public service delivery efficiency in countries like Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network (ASAN Xidmat) also known as “ASAN service” centers are “one-stop shop”-based locations that bring together representatives of 11 government entities and private companies providing services in a public-private partnership.

Until hitherto, Ugandans have been engaged in online transactions especially when purchasing second-hand vehicles from Japan, but have been really at the mercy of the other party.

Also, the incidence of online fraud committed by Ugandans defrauding other unsuspecting Ugandans is on the rise and the new pieces of legislation will come in handy to check that.

Speaking during a communications conference that took place in Kampala recently state minister for ICT, Nyombi Thembo asked the law fraternity to offer up some solutions.

He said Uganda is currently facing enormous ICT challenges given the fast pace at which the industry is evolving. He cited public policy, regulation, legislation, internet freedom, and intellectual property rights issues as areas that needed attention.

This is being done by setting up such structures as the East African Diseases Outbreak Surveillance system.

The system will be able to alert the ministry of any outbreaks in the Country.

Udanda’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Jinny Saamanya made the plans public over the weekend in Dar es Salaam.

A delegate from Uganda’s ICT Ministry was in the country last week to learn and share experiences on various ICT related issues in relation to social and economic development with experts of the Tanzania’s Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology.

Commissioned by Minister of Information and Communications Technology Aggrey Awori, the project aims at serving Eastern Uganda and the areas bordering Kenya.

ICT can help developing countries frog-leap stages of development and usher them into first world economies according to a five year strategic plan by the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U).

Save for a few health care centers and hospitals that have deployed a semblance of ICT for things like data collection and management, Uganda's public health care system is not automated, like most other public sectors in the country.

Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda told the 1st National Communications Conference that the first and second phase of laying the country's long awaited completion of the government fibre optic cable commonly known as the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure cable was complete.

"Now, we're carrying out a forensic and security audit. There were rumors about the type of cable that was laid. We found it to be fine. The actual switch on date will be this October," Rugunda explained to ICT stakeholders.

ICT minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda attributed Uganda’s success on Universities and other tertiary institutions, which had engaged fully in information technology.

Globally, Uganda is among the 82 world nations which have advanced technological and innovation capabilities. The rest of African countries were not ranked for lack of data to measure the relative standing on technology, innovation, human capital and other measures of economic competitiveness.

Matia Kasaija, the country’s state minister for Planning in the ministry of Finance, said the Ugandan government would adopt an e-procurement system for the empowerment of entities to better manage public procurement and the disposal process.

Uganda is preparing to launch an e-government procurement (e-Gp) system with the first round of training hosted today by the system contractor at the offices of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance.

The pilot programme is scheduled for rollout in July 2018 and is expected to make the process of public procurement more efficient, transparent and accountable.

Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has launched an integrated online platform which will ease the procurement of public goods and services by the government and its institutions.

“When we improve on the procurement process in government institutionsm, both at the central and local government levels, this enables the government to deliver quality social services in time to its citizens. We expect the new ICT portal will address that in the next coming financial year which will start on 1st July 2015,” Professor Simeon Wanyama, the PPDA Board Chair said last week during the launch in Kampala.

Appearing before the committee of parliament on Information, Communication and Technology the minster of ICT, Rukahana Rugunda said that the process for digital migration is ongoing but Uganda is still struggling to hit the target.

He said that it will be hard for Uganda to meet the set target by East African countries after observing the progress of the work but says the country will meet the world set target of 2015.