Through www.bahamas.gov.bs, general information about the government and the Bahamas can be obtained and online payments can be made for things such as a driver’s licence and real property tax.
“I was extremely excited about the implementation of e-government – the opportunity to provide services to the public by way of the Internet and make it easier, more efficient and more effective to serve the public,” Mr Laing said.
Noting that the decline in broadband Internet penetration indicated that Bahamians were not fully exploiting information and communications technology (ICT) opportunities, a sector seen by many countries as a vital to economic growth, Wayne Aranha said progress on online access would aid the development of industries such as e-commerce, tele-medicine and e-banking.
The former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) partner and accountant, writing in URCA's 2012 report, said: "A major challenge for the Bahamas is to get more people online, particularly given that penetration decreased between 2009 and 2010.
Read more: BS: 22% Broadband Penetration Fall 'Major Challenge'
According to the health minister, this latest advancement in electronic healthcare will allow emergency service personnel and technicians to monitor what occurs inside an ambulance while en route in real time.
Describing the report's finding that Bahamian companies faced a tax burden equivalent to 48 per cent of their annual profits as "high", Zhivargo Laing said that while the Government had made some headway in making the conduct of business in the Bahamas easier, it had "lots more progress to make".
Minister of National Security, O.A. Turnquest said the commitment to e-Government would transform Bahama’s Public Service into an even more efficient entity by providing the general public with greater access to public information and Government services.
The provision of on-line services in areas such as the payment of real property taxes, renewal of driver’s licences and submission of applications for passports, marriage licences and death certificates, in addition to the payment of traffic fines, would assist Public Servants in meeting the needs of citizens, residents, businesses and non-residents, in a more efficient manner.