The Government of Uganda has Friday morning signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Malawi aimed at boosting cyber security capacity and electronic government of the two nations.
The function which took place at Ministry of ICT headquarters in Kampala was presided over by Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, Uganda’s Minister for ICT who led the Ugandan delegation while the Malawian delegation was led by ICT Minister, Nicholas Dausi.
In his remarks, Minister Tumwebaze noted that Uganda’s ICT industry is still revolving and that partnerships like this will strengthen it further.
“We have learnt from them (Malawi) that ICT infrastructure is still critical in terms of enabling low cost of voice and data and we also shared about integration of ICT systems in government,” said Tumwebaze.
“For many reasons, it would be cheaper for government and easier to safe guard against such installations if our ICT security is up to standard,” he added.
A recent report by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) indicated that Uganda’s cyber security capacity was still at the embryonic state and that no concrete action has been taken to help the situation.
The partnership also comes amidst panic as some government websites including the Ministry of Finance have been hacked and attacked by unknown entities.
The partnership is measured as one of the steps being taken by the Ministry to solve and patch up holes in the country’s cybersecurity capacity to enable growth of the ICT sector as well as assure internet users of safety and security of their online data.
The Malawian delegation, as part of their visit, undertook a tour to the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) where they were taken through an overview of the Authority’s programmes and projects.
