The National Information Technology Authority (NITA) Uganda unveiled the e-government excellence awards in a bid to commend the government agencies that have actively promoted the provision of services to citizens online.
Under the theme “Bold Digital Government: Unlocking Service Delivery”, the body – in a month-long celebration – is organizing an expo for government services held from June 20-21 at Garden City rooftop which will be followed by the awards ceremony on June 28th, 2019.
The awards, as stated by NITA Uganda, have already attracted at least 75 nominations under 7 categories which include best eService under sectors of Health, Education, Agriculture, and Justice, Law & Order, Citizen’s Choice, Accountability, and the Chief Information Officer of the year.
The body projects that by the end of five years, Ugandans shall be able to access all government service information on the phone.
Read About: NITA_U Launches Government Service Desk
According to the United Nations (UN) E-government survey of 2018, Uganda’s online service index improved from 50% in 2016 to 57% in 2018, which puts the country in the high online service index bracket.
The survey also indicates that Uganda’s E-Government development index (EGDI) improved from 36% in 2016 to 41% in 2018, a figure above the African average of 34%; while ranking Uganda as the number one in Africa in cyber security by the global national cyber security index.
It is at the awards unveiling event that the NITA Uganda director for technical services and in charge of the National Backbone Infrastructure Project, Vivian Ddambya mentioned about the Authority’s marking of 10 years since its inception.
Among the milestones that the body boasts of having achieved in the decade include the total of 3000 km of optical fibre laid, 4 National Border posts connected, State of the art tier 3 National Data Centre, 390 Services online, National Disaster Recovery Centre, National CERT, and an E-citizens portal in existence.
“Currently, we have laid fibre optic cable in the country. We have about 3000 kilometers laid, about 500 government locations connected. We are laying another 1000 kilometers. Internet will spread across the country. Internet prices have since reduced from $190 a unit to $70 and next year, it will be at $50 with many agencies connected.”
