IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The government has devised guidelines that will help proper usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in public offices.

Addressing reporters in Dar es Salaam, the Director of ICT Management Services, E-Government Agency, Mr Benedict Ndomba, said that the guidelines would be used in planning, designing and managing various systems of ICT.

Mr Makamba said this on Thursday when officiating at meeting of ICT stakeholders to discuss the proposed mandate of the recently launched National ICT Commission (NICTC) on Thursday in Dar es Salaam.

He made the remarks on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam during the inauguration of government agencies including the new electronic information monitoring e-Government Agency (eGA).

Communication, Science and Technology Minister Professor Makame Mbarawa told journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the government had since contacted five mobile phone firms to develop rural communication infrastructure.

Profesor Mbawa said that the project was aimed at ensuring wider coverage of the mobile phone services in rural areas to allow Tanzanians in rural areas improve their means of production.

"We are in the process of changing our education system to ensure those coming out of schools and colleges have adequate skill to make them self-reliant," the Director of ICT in the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, Dr Ziapora Yonah, said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.

Speaking yesterday in Dar es Salaam during the handling over of certificates to ICT graduates the Director of ICT from the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, Dr Zaipuna Yona said it has been customary for ICT experts to remain in urban centers after completing their studies leaving majority of Tanzanians in the rural unattended.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled Jenista Mhagama

The government has launched an online portal to track-down implementation of election manifesto and promises made by senior leaders with the view of improving service delivery and speeding-up economic growth.

The Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that the government has decided to take action because the abuse has been alarming.

"Strict measures will be taken against all individuals or companies who will abuse the government and its leaders; religious, political leaders and individuals," he said.

The system to be adopted from South Korea and Kenya is known as Public Key Infrastructure.

According to the two countries, the system has been successful in checking cyber related crimes.

The Director of the Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH), Prof Senga Pemba said in Bagamoyo that unskilled human resource in the health sector was acting as a stumbling block leading to underutilisation of resources.

"The current human resource in the health sector is not aware of the national e-health strategy launched last year and this is a problem because we cannot have it implemented," he said.

The biometric voter registration system, which proved a success in the recent election in neighbouring Kenya, would go some way to ensure a fair election here at home. The National Electoral Commission has indicated that it is considering investing in that technology. It is a welcome move that will, to a large extent, ensure that no one fiddles with the outcome.

The first part of the project, which was completed in May 2010, covered three routes— Northern Ring I that covers Babati, Arusha, Moshi and Tanga; Northern Ring II that covers Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Iringa, Dodoma and Singida and Western Link I and II that take care of Shinyanga, Mwanza, Geita, Biharamulo, Rusumo and Kabanga.

Development and institutionalisation ARIS was almost a paradigm shift as far as academics records management in Tanzania were concerned.

A press statement issued by the UCC in Dar es Salaam said for the first time in the history of UDSM and the country at large, ARIS has enabled automation of the admission process through the software.

Apart from the equipment, the hospital also needs more than 300 computers to facilitate electronic communication from when the patients enter the hospital until when they are discharged.

The Project Administrator, Agapati Sanday, told the 'Daily News' in Mwanza City that the initiative was meant to improve health services. "Apart from communication, there will be e-leaning service as well as the processing and transmission of information between selected primary medical centres of Mwanza and Dodoma regions," Sanday said.

Mr Makamba told the National Assembly here that the job will cost 403 million US dollars. The money is a loan from the government of China. "We signed a 403 million dollar loan when the President of China toured Tanzania two months ago. We will spend the money on construction of the National ICT Broadband Backbone. We will thus be able to connect the whole country including all district councils," he said.

He said it is important that priority is given to rural areas so as to harness knowledge for development."There is no way that we can avoid using ICT as it develops daily and is used worldwide by various governments," he said.

Lack of adequate leadership may result in disastrous failure of e-government initiatives, which the world of today cannot afford risking them. The world of today needs innovative and creative leadership that copes with current developments and challenges.

ICT has especially become the buzzword in recent years as the global economy has become more inter-linked and thriving on the immediate transmission of information from one location to another.

Against this background, Tanzania can not afford to miss out on the chance to reap from ICT potentials. E-health, e-commerce, e-government, e-education, e-learning etc, which have become part and parcel of the modern day vocabulary, all connote one thing, the application of ICT in the various sectors.

Some of them include Dar es Salaam Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBI) and Mara Group. According to the CEO of the Dar Teknohama, Eng George Mulamula, says more training is shifting focus to the concept, a few years back was seen as a preserve of the West.