IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Increased use of mobile phones has improved access to services and boosted the economy, the Youth and ICT Minister, Philbert Nsengimana, has said. Nsegimana noted that no other piece of technology has had greater impact on the population of Rwanda than a mobile phone.

"Nothing beats the mobile phone in transforming businesses and improving access to information or delivering services faster. When you look at all pillars of the Millenium Development Goals, be it reducing maternal deaths or poverty, the mobile phone plays a direct and indirect role on how both the government and private sector can act," Nsengimana said. He was commenting on the 40 years of using mobile phones, which was marked on Wednesday.

Read more: RW: Mobile Phones Have Enhanced Access to Services, Says ICT Minister

"There is no one here who can convince me that he uses more than 20% of the potential of his mobile or iPad," was the challenge launched by ICT Minister Jean Philbert Nsengimana, talking last week at Police headquarters where he kicked of a campaign to increase and improve the use of ICT in the public sector, which is part of a wider drive to raise awareness on technology among the general population.

In all likelihood, the Minister is right. While the country has a vision of becoming a regional and African information hub, and mobile telephone penetration is increasing rapidly, a lot still needs to be done to make good use of the available technology.

Read more: RW: Public Officials Need ICT Training, Not Just Sensitization

Rwanda's claim to be the Africa's leader in information and communication technologies (ICTs) got me thinking that the aspirations are realisable considering the fact that the ICT sector has registered considerable growth within a short period of time.

When we compare the ICT industry in Rwanda at the pre- Genocide period and today, there is a big difference. I doubt whether the ICT sector had any mention during the pre-1994 government's plans and policies.

The only technology worth talking home about then was the fixed telephone network and the sole public radio station, all of which were only accessible to a tiny privileged minority.

Read more: Rwanda's ICT Ambitions Bearing Fruit

ICT use in public service still needs a boost

New information and communication technology (ICT) systems, awareness campaigns and other initiatives have been making frequent headlines off late because of the government's drive to boost ICT in service delivery.

For example, e-Mboni, a document tracking and workflow management system, was recently launched to replace the manual system in order to facilitate all government entities to share documents electronically. The system has a centralized structure that can be used in any ministry or public service organization to track the progress of documents.

Read more: RW: Megaphone or Mobile