In the current business environment, information systems, the Internet and global communication networks are creating new opportunities for organisational coordination and innovation. Current practice has been satellite-based communication links, but the associated costs are prohibitive and result in minimised access size of paths, (bandwidth) leading to slow Internet speeds.
Read more: Uganda: We need fibre optic project to join new information age
In the current business environment, Information Systems, the Internet and global communication networks are creating new opportunities for organisational coordination and innovation. Such systems, used in government/governance, can extend reach and effectiveness of both to remote locations, and improve service delivery to citizens. Current practice has been satellite based communication links, but the associated costs are prohibitive and result in minimised access size of paths, (bandwidth) leading to slow Internet speeds, for example.
Angry MPs on the Information and Communication Technology Committee, also gave the sector minister, Aggrey Awori and his junior colleague Alintuma Nsambu, 48 hours to explain why the costs of a $126 million (about Shs252 billion) National ICT backbone infrastructure project were reportedly inflated.
The NBI was one of the best ideas that came with the creation of the new Information and Communication technology Ministry. The same project was supposed to facilitate the operations of its other half the Electronic Government Infrastructure (EGI) project.
Unsurprisingly hyperbole was not on short supply at the launch event. Cisco’s representative announced, “We will change the way Africans work, live, learn and play with the rest of the world”. Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy urged the African youth to wake up every morning asking them “are we dreaming big enough?” An excitable Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, speaking from Dar es Salaam live via video link, declared his country ready for “e-commerce, e-government, e-everything”.