BASSETERRE St. Kitts, March 23rd, 2011 (SKNIS) - Government’s effort to provide greater e-services and boost efficiency within the public sector is being assisted by a team from the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) who are undertaking a three month technical audit of the Information Technology infrastructure.
During the launch of the programme on Tuesday, Minister responsible for Telecommunications and Information Technology Honourable Glenn Phillip told SKNIS that the country stands to benefit greatly from this exercise.
“What we intend to do in the future is to provide e-Government services that will enable our citizens to really interact with Government in a number of ways,” he stated, noting that it will allow for instant feedback as well as increase transparency. “Persons will be able to log on to whatever Government website and see exactly what is happening in different Ministries of the Government and so this is a step forward.”
With regards to telecommunications, Minister Phillip added that he intends to work steadfastly to fulfill his mandate of making communication more cost effective.
“As we speak, the cost for telecommunications is going up within Government. However, if you look at it from an international perspective, the cost of telecommunications is on a downward spiral and so we do not want to stay on the same track [of] spending the same amount of monies we did five years ago at this same time,” the Minister stressed.
“We know that the technology is there and the cost savings are out there and so this is an attempt to … keep abreast with technology and [to] gain cost efficiency within the telecommunication services.”
In addition, the audit will allow for an evaluation of the human resource capacity of public servants in relation to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the CTU, explained the role of her agency in this project.
“We are seeking to support St. Kitts and Nevis in the development of not just the ICTs infrastructure and services but this [is] also in the whole thrust to enhance competitiveness … on the global scene using information and communication technologies,” she disclosed.
Ms. Lewis applauded the Federal Government for reaching out to CTU to assist in the project and assured that the activities and subsequent recommendations will be conducted in line with international practices.
