East Africa Community (EAC) e-Government Strategy

ECA received a request from the EAC to support an e-government workshop with the view to developing a regional strategy for the Regional Economic Community. ECA upon reviewing this request recommended that ePol-Net be involved with this activity. Accordingly, the East Africa Regional e-Government Strategy Workshop took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 17 -19 November 2004 in the framework of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) implementation activities at sub-regional level. It brought together about sixty participants from diverse arrays of Government including ICT policymaking, civil society, private sector and e-government planning executives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Canada. It addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the East African Community (EAC) partner States in harnessing ICTs for public administrations efficiency and effectiveness, combined with organisational change and development of new skills, in order to leverage the knowledge resources necessary to support the move towards successful e-government and improved public services and democratic processes. e-Government experiences from Canada and the Gambia were presented during the workshop.

The EAC Partner States and other participants recognized the need to promote harmonization and coordination of ICT policy and strategy, to create framework for sharing, promoting collaboration on cross-border political and data flow issues to avoid duplication, error, aggregate resources for the benefit of the community. An action plan for the process of formulating the EAC e-government strategy was developed. The workshop ended with a consensus statement to develop a harmonized and co-coordinated regional e-government strategy for East Africa by the end of 2005, and by establishing an e-government Working Group. The e-Government priority areas identified in the consensus statement are customs control, e-Parliament, e-Health, e-Banking, e-Procurement, e-Commerce and information on meteorology.

Uganda Health ICT Policy

The Government of Uganda identified ICT as a key tool for the modernization and development of the country. The Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) I 2000/05 and HSSP II 2005/10 have also embraced ICT as one of the tools for achieving their objectives. The Ugandan National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) has already developed the National ICT Policy which has been discussed by Cabinet and is awaiting Parliament approval to become a law. The National Telehealth/Telemedicine Steering Committee was appointed in 2000 to guide the Health Sector in the implementation of the Telemedicine Pilot Project and in the development of an ICT policy and strategy for the health sector.

Upon the request of the Ministry of Health of the Government of Uganda for assistance under the e-Polnet, the ECA recruited a consultant to develop an ICT policy, strategies and action plans for implementation of the national ICT policy in the health sector. The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the UNDP have also provided support for the services of the National ICT Consultant.

The e-Health ICT Policy has been developed within the framework of the National ICT Policy. Three volumes of the Integrated Health Sector ICT Policy, Implementation Strategies and Action Plans for Ministry of Health, Uganda were prepared. The first volume is the policy process which consists of reports on the background to the need to develop the health sector ICT, the terms of reference for the consultants and the methodology used.

The second volume addresses the policy itself including background information, situational analysis, rationale for the policy and policy objectives. In addition the benefits of the policy, problem definition, the scope of the policy, stakeholders analysis, as well as the ICT policy statement and action plans including policy issues and result areas are discussed. It also addresses the legal and regulatory framework, the institutional framework, financing, cost benefit analysis, linkages and partnerships, policy implementation and monitoring and evaluation aspect of the policy. The last volume consists of two chapters addressing the policy’s implementation strategies and action plans with key players and time frames (short, medium and long term), management and estimated budget for the different prioritised programmes and projects identified.

A stakeholders review meeting of the policy documents took place at the beginning of March 2005.

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) e-Strategy Study

COMESA requested the ECA for assistance in the preparation of a policy framework document for the development of a regional e-strategy. The policy framework document is expected to serve as a guideline in the e-strategy development process. As the request was in line with ePol-NET’s activity, it was agreed that assistance for the preparation of an e-strategy document would be provided. The main objectives of the development of an e-strategy for COMESA included the promotion of ICT usage for regional economic integration, enhancement of connectivity and access to ICT services among and within the member States and development of applications and content for the sub-region, while encouraging public-private partnerships. The e-strategy is expected to cover all major aspects of e-applications including e-government, e-commerce, e-education, e-health, e-agriculture etc.

Country missions to seven COMESA member states took place in August 2004. At the end of these missions a meeting was held between the lead consultant and the ECA staff assigned to the project at Maputo on 29-30 August to finalize an update on the study for presentation at the COMESA High level meeting on ICT in Kigali on 1-3 Sept. 2004. In the Kigali meeting inputs and preliminary consensus were sought from representatives of the governments of the COMESA member states. These included agreement from member states to join a regional initiative on ICT for Development and a proposed e-strategy structure. Major findings from the ICT Policies/Strategies at country level, and the outcomes of the missions to selected countries and discussion with the identified key players in the countries were also presented.

Needs Assessment for ePol-NET Services

The Africa Node of the ePol-NET conducted a needs assessment survey
of NICI focal points and consultants in seven African countries. The survey helped identify the e-Resources and expertise needed in the development of their ICT sectoral strategies. Below are links to the identified needs of each one of the seven countries.

Workshops: Stimulating Demand for ePol-Net Activities

Seminar Series on ICT Awareness for African Parliamentarians

In the context of building the capacity of African stakeholders under the AISI outreach programme, the ECA has launched a seminar series in March 2003 at its Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA). The Seminar Series is intended to raise awareness of African Parliamentarians on ICT for development issues.

The ePol-Net presentation made to African Parliamentarians workshop during CODI-3 highlighted the relevance of the initiative to parliamentarians in Africa. Participants, mainly MPs from Ethiopia, and representatives from Tanzania and Uganda, acknowledged the importance of the ePol-Net services in addressing their needs for ICT policy resources to make timely and sound policy decisions.

ACT 2003 and e-Gov 2003

Presentation was made on ePol-Net goals and activities during the ACT 2003 that took place in Abuja, Nigeria in August 2003 on the theme “Mobilising ICT Applications and Projects for Effective Corporate, National and Regional Development”, and the e-Gov 2003 that took place in Pretoria, South Africa in September 2003 on the theme “Missions, Solutions and Results for a Citizen-Centered Government”.

Communication strategy

ECA is in the process of developing a comprehensive communication strategy for ePol-Net that will be integrated in the existing AISI Communication and Outreach Programme that is aimed at promoting greater awareness on the role of ICTs for development in Africa. This includes, without being limited to, briefing papers, radio series, as well as the creation of an ICT Knowledge Centre that would house existing and emerging information and data on ICTs in Africa.

As part of ePol-Net communication strategy, posters were prepared by ECA and Industry Canada, and posted in various public places within the United Nations compound in Addis Ababa, and some more posters are being designed for a wider dissemination.