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Thursday, 28.03.2024
eGovernment Forschung seit 2001 | eGovernment Research since 2001

The government has announced plans to establish digital transformation centres across the country to enhance access to information communication technology (ICT), especially among rural communities.

Smart Zambia Institute National Coordinator, Percy Chinyama, said this is in an effort to ensure that members of the public utilise and appreciate the Government Service Bus (GSB) initiative.

Mr Chinyama explained that to achieve this, the government intends to deploy wider area network coverage in all parts of the country, starting with 50 per cent of the districts that are situated in the remotest parts of the country.

He was speaking when he visited the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA), Registrar of Societies and the Patent and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) offices in Lusaka today.

He said to this effect, Smart Zambia will engage other stakeholders such as Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) and mobile service providers to address issues of poor internet and reduce the cost of connectivity.

“We will soon deploy the government-wide area network especially in critical areas that have internet problems and we also intend to create digital transformation centres for people to easily access the ICT services,” he said.

Mr. Chinyama has since advised the government institutions on the GSB to work together and improve the delivery of services to the public.

He observed that there is need for all government departments to effectively utilise the GSB initiative and come up with one marketing strategy that will pitch all the services that government offers to the public.

He added that doing so will make it easy for people to appreciate and access the various services that government is offering through the GSB.

“There is need for collaboration among yourselves as government institutions, you shouldn’t work in silos if government services are to be consumed by the public. Create one marketing strategy that will market all government services,” he stated.

Meanwhile, RTSA Director, Gladwell Banda, has disclosed that since the launch of the GSB portal in 2020, the agency witnessed a growth in the number of transactions done, resulting in 85 percent increase in revenue collection.

Mr. Banda, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RTSA, said K13 million was collected in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the 7.1 million in the first quarter of 2021.

“The implementation of the GSB has had a positive impact on the agency on multiple fronts. Firstly the GSB has accelerated our efforts to decongest RTSA service centres, and it has also reduced the cost of doing business for RTSA. The agency is saving about K20 million as a result of reduced use of consumables in the form of security paper used for printing certificates,” he said.

And PACRA Acting Director and CEO, Wilson Banda has thanked the government for coming up with the GSB, adding that it has enhanced efficiency in the registration of companies in the country.

Mr. Banda disclosed that from November 2021 to April 2022, PACRA has received over 40,000 company registration applications and has so far registered about 4,330 businesses.

For the department of Registrar of Societies, the coming of GSB has improved the general performance of the department with revenue collection in the first quarter of 2022 standing at over K4.2 million, exceeding the annual target of K3.3 million.

Chief Registrar of Societies, Thandiwe Mhende, added that by using the GSB, the department has also reduced audit queries of financial nature as no officer is handling cash.

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Quelle/Source: Lusaka Times, 21.04.2022

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