According to ICT minister Nelson Chamisa, the new policy will provide for, among other things, the establishment of a national information and communication technology authority, and a national information and communication technology converged regulator and e-government.
An e-government agency will develop, promote and co-ordinate the use of ICTs in the government for the exchange of information and delivery of services. The new policy will replace the ICT policy framework launched in 2007 that has since been overtaken by developments in the fast-growing sector.
It is anticipated the policy would see the enhancement of efficiency of central government through a platform called “e-governance”.
E-governance is described as the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as data networks and computers to improve service provision activities within a country’s public sector organisations and institutions and with the general populace.
This is all forward-looking, but the tragedy of our governance system at the moment is that is has been left behind, preferring to do things manually when they should take advantage of ICTs to enhance efficiency and professionalism.
Until now, despite huge investments made by both the government and the private sector in ICT infrastructure, the country still faces challenges in both data and voice arenas, which are manifested by congestions and slow connectivity.
It is our prayer that the new policy would be comprehensive enough to address such deficiencies.
It is envisaged that when e-government is rolled out, registration forms for critical documents such as passport forms will be accessed and submitted through online systems.
Payments for these services will also be done through online systems such as credit cards.This will be critical in decongesting many of our government facilities where people go to seek important documents, among other things. At the same time, the efficiency associated with such online operations will also minimise the use of kickbacks to access essential services.
There is no doubt this will put an end to the non-remittance of critical funds to the government consolidated revenue account. All revenue will easily be accounted for.
A robust ICT policy could ease the means of doing business in the country by reducing the amount of paper work potential investors have to submit. Last month it was exposed that the failure to implement a computer system integrating all government departments had stalled efforts to set up the one-stop-shop investment centre.
Through an efficient and effective ICT policy framework, the country would be able to re-profile its competitiveness through the offloading of several bureaucratic burdens from potential investors.
It is our hope that the policy would not remain perched on some government office shelf but would be implemented in its entirety for the benefit of not only individuals, but the economy as well.
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Quelle/Source: NewsDay, 16.08.2012
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