It said that the grant will help establish and equip ministries and district offices with a standard suite of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure such as computers, printers, telecommunications and internet access and support services, enabling them to take full advantage of ICTs via the E-Rwanda Project.
“Rwanda has made laudable progress in the deployment of ICT and the approval of the grant for the E-Rwanda Project is an illustration of the World Bank’s commitment to supporting Rwanda’s strategic decision to use technology as an enabler for development,” the bank’s Task Team Leader for E-Rwanda project, Arleen Cannata Seed, said in the release.
He added that capacity building and technical training activities built into the project will guarantee the emergence of a core of workers capable of handling electronic government transactions and other future ICT-driven developments.
Overall, the project is et to improve the government’s internal functions, its ability to deliver services and information to its citizens, and will help strengthen the private sector for economic growth and poverty reduction.
“A key element of the reforms will be to improve access to information about basic (health, education, agriculture, environment, and judicial) services as well as to disseminate much needed information that are important for the livelihood of citizens.
These services will be subjected to a re-engineering process with the goal of improving quality, access and service standards,” said the release.
The public will participate in the project through the provision of public access points in urban and rural areas, and the dissemination of information geared primarily towards vulnerable groups, such as women, children, and farmers.
The project will among others strengthen the capacity of the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) and implement funding mechanisms to improve access in rural areas. It will also help establish an adequate quality assurance mechanism to accompany the implementation of the reforms as well as the development of a monitoring and evaluation system for E-Government reforms.
State Minister Eng. Albert Butare said of the grant: “We are very pleased with the support. It will go a long way in helping us to implement Vision 2020.”
Autor(en)/Author(s): Sulah Nuwamanya
Quelle/Source: The New Times, 12.09.2006
