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NICI
Policy Workshop starts in the Gambia
 Banjul : 29th Nov 2004 : The Gambia Government is committed
to improve access to information and communication technologies and promoting their use for stimulating economic growth, increasing efficiency and reduce poverty. The national information and communication infrastructure policy should be broad enough to cover the entire information and communication infrastructure sector; deal with emerging technologies and increasing convergence of technologies, human resource, network security, economic and social issues. The Department of State for Communication, Information & Technology (DOSCIT) is committed to creating the necessary enabling environment to enable government and the public to utilize the opportunities offered by information and communication and Technologies and their applications to service delivery, operational efficiency and improvement of people’s lives.
These statements were made by H.E. Manlifi Jarju, the Secretary of State for Local Government and Lands who was
representing the Secretary of State for Information, Communication and Technology at the opening of the NICI Workshop being held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Banjul on
29th of November 2004. The workshop is being attended by participants
drawn from all stakeholders. It is organized by DOSCIT with technical and financial assistance from
ECA through the European Commission. Continuing his address the Minister also said that DOSCIT is forging head in the information and communication technology sub-sectors; that in addition to the current policy formulation process,
ECA is also supporting the e-government project that is now being coordinated by DOSCIT. According to the SOS, at the moment they plan to connect 10 Departments of State with wireless network to enhance interaction and sharing of information among Departments of State.
Hon. Minister also pointed out that the e-government project is a bold initiative that will transform the nature of interaction among government department and between governments of government services, the public. With sufficient infrastructures, including energy, skill human resource, and sufficient financial resources, government can create mechanisms through which citizens and business can experience seamless interaction in the conduct of business, while pushing existing institution towards greater efficiency and improved service delivery.
In the quest to build the critical mass of people skilled in the information and communication technology skills, and to kick-start the e-government programmed, said the SOS, DOSCIT will during the first quarter of 2005, initiate the training of up to 30 staff from 10 government departments in systems administration, web development and network security at the Advanced Information Technology Institute, in Ghana.
Speaking earlier Martin Brady marketing manager of Africel, one of the stakeholders in from private sector welcomed the delegates to the workshop, noted amongst other things that this workshop is the second phase of development and is crucial to the future growth and infrastructure of the communication sector; that the first stage identified the key areas of which collectively the public and private sector should focus all resources on to improve and implement the ICT objectives in line with Vision 2020. Mr. Brady expected that over the next three days they will brainstorm each of these elements carried out in the NATCOM survey in July last year and work to create a working document that they can present to the National Assembly so that may be able to legislate and adopt it into Government policy. According to Mr. Brady, the pillars of future growth for the ICT range from basic infrastructure of communication within The Gambia, improving the accessibility of communication equipment throughout the country, especially within the provinces, to establish a quick and easy solution in order to obtain information, vital to improve the Health and Education concerns and the establishment of an E-Commerce society to improve business transactions and operations, whether it be local or on a more global scale.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr SS Jallow, the Permanent Secretary of the DOSCIT and attended by, among others, Dr Baharul Islam,
ECA Consultant who is coordinating the technical aspects of the workshop. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by the national NICI Process coordinator and Principal Asstt Secretary at DOSCIT, Mr Lamin
Sawo.
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