Transversal systems and e-government platforms are on the cards, to allow government departments to deliver services online to South African citizens.
This is one of the messages from yesterday’s Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services budget speech, delivered in Parliament by Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
“Government is moving towards rendering its services and information to the public using electronic means to optimise service delivery,” he says.
Cwele says the department co-ordinate work with other frontline government departments that provide services to the public.
“Through SITA , over the next five years, a significant number of government services will be available online,” he says. “Of course, the success of this is dependent on the massive deployment of e-skills.”
Cwele also committed the department to finalising the establishment of the Cybersecurity Hub by the end of this year. “The function of the hub is to promote best practice, compliance with standards, procedures and develop related cyber security policies that affect the public and private sectors,” he says.
He is also concerned about South Africa’s drop in international ranking in respect of its global competitiveness. “Certainly, we will work more cohesively to ensure that information on ICT is collected, collated and reported timeously.
This will be the first step in raising our rankings. Other measures include identifying areas for improvement and ensuring that we take steps to remedy our shortcomings.”
Corporate governance was also on the agenda. “Government will continue to extend its oversight on state-owned entities to improve service delivery to our people. We have completed a process of reviewing and enacting new
Memoranda of Incorporation for Sentech, SAPO and Nemisa to improve corporate governance. We will also enter into performance agreements with boards to improve accountability.
“On the international front South Africa will remain active in the International Telecommunications Union, and the Universal Postal Union,” says Cwele. “Our focus will be two-fold. We will seek to harness the expertise residing in these organisations to address the socio-economic challenges we face, including capacity building, rural development and inequality, and bridging the digital divide.
“At the same time we will work closely with the rest of Africa and other developing countries to ensure that these global organisations continue to respond to the needs of developing countries. We will be engaging on the issue of Internet governance and will adopt a multi-lateral approach in this matter.”