The National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) on Wednesday this week flagged off a group of journalists who will go to Estonia on an educative tour.
Through a partnership with the Estonian Media training center in cooperation with the Estonian Foreign Ministry, the journalists were selected to go and learn how Estonia has been able to achieve the strides it has had in digitizing its economy. The Republic of Estonia has a strong and robust ICT sector that has been responsible for Estonia’s fast development and GDP growth. It is this rich experience that Uganda can learn from in its quest to harness and grow eGovernment services.
This initiative comes at the heels of the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance the Estonian Government in November 2017.
Estonia is often referred to as an e-state, and during their visit, the Ugandan journalists will learn more about their paperless e-government, globally attractive e-residency, digital signatures among other opportunities that their ID card and mobile ID systems provide for.
Additionally, the Ugandan team will get acquainted with successful, extraordinary and futuristic enterprises. Since Estonia is a very tech-savvy and entrepreneur-friendly country, the number of new exciting tech start-ups is noticeably growing each year.
Addressing the journalists, the NITA-U Executive Directors, James Saaka, shared that ‘Government of Uganda, is constantly exploring ways of becoming more efficient so as to make it as easy as possible for the citizenry to access eGovernment services, taking services online is a critical area of delivery. I wish you the best and look forward to hearing from you about your experiences.’
This initiative is one of many being rolled out by NITA-U to ensure that the journey to digitizing the nation is as inclusive as can be. This is the only way that as a nation, we can truly make the leap to becoming digital.
The collaboration between Ugandan and Estonia covers four areas of cooperation which includes: Electronic Government (e-Government), Policy and Regulation, Smart City Technologies and Research and Innovation. This will allow for the promotion of modern and efficient country governance within the Government of the Republic of Uganda for better efficiency, greater revenue gain, and management, for improved service and better citizen experience.
