Mashatile says the province will spend at least half a billion rand on ICT over the next three years. The budget vote makes it clear several billion more can follow after some groundwork is done.
The amount forms part of a R31.5 billion investment over the medium-term to fund infrastructure projects that are expected to stimulate economic growth and job creation in the province.
Read more: South Africa: Gauteng scores half a billion IT budget
The deal, signed by SA's communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and Finland's minister counsellor Marjaana Sall, in Pretoria yesterday, is in support of the SA Provincial Information Society Strategy programme.
The initiative aims to accelerate social and economic development through ICT, says the Department of Communications.
The statement recognised the standards related to the Minimum Interoperability Standards for Information Systems (MIOS) in government.
According to the MIOS document, the standards set out government's technical principles and standards for achieving inter-operability and information systems coherence across the public sector.
Read more: South Africa: Shuttleworth Foundation Lauds Govt's IT Standards
Addressing the media in the wake of the recent state of the province address, Gauteng finance and economic affairs MEC Paul Mashatile said the centre has “built an illustrious profile for itself as a pioneer of public sector innovation”.
She says similar systems are in use in cities such as Las Vegas in the US and are more efficient than the fragmented approach currently in use in SA.