eGovernment Excellence Award Winners Revealed

On Thursday 27th, June 2019 government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) were recognized for playing a remarkable role in availing online government service to the public — by awarding them the eGovernment Excellence Award(s).

The award ceremony organized by Legends Events, was held at the Speke Resort Munyonyo graced by the Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda as the Chief Guest.

Honorable mentions include; the Minister of ICT and National Guidance; Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, the State Minister for Investment and Privatization; Hon. Evelyne Anite, Antony Thompson; World Bank country manager for Uganda, among others.

The Prime Minister attending the inaugural eGovernment Excellence Awards said the government MDAs that were nominated for the awards, are the ones that have been outstanding in digitizing services and bringing these services online.

He noted that the public should be aware of the role ICT plays in transforming the lives. He further stated that the NRM government recognizes ICT as one of the key drivers of efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, production processes and communication.

Previous during the NIISP Awards ceremonial at the Ministry of ICT, Rt. Hon. Rugunda said the government identified ICT sector as one of the four key priority sectors positioned to jump start Uganda’s social economic development. And that ICT based innovations provide a critical ingredient(s) for the key growth sectors of Uganda’s economy,

In his address at the eGovernment Excellence Awards, he added that there have been deliberate efforts to grow the ICT sector in order to harness the incredible potential it brings to our development agenda.

“The NRM Government liberalized the ICT sector from state monopolies as early as 1994 in order to speed up technology and internet penetration. NRM showed its commitment to this sector by creating a dedicated Ministry, The Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and the establishment of the National Information and Communication Technology Authority of Uganda to facilitate this process,” said Rt. Hon. Rugunda.

The Ministry of ICT has for time, notably, playing a role in supporting creativeness of Uganda especially the youth through innovations. On the other hand NITA-Uganda is integrating all government systems to enhance government service delivery to citizens, non-citizens, businesses and to Government MDAs. This integration promises access to all government services via an e-citizen web portal, www.ecitizen.go.ug.

The Prime Minister noted that today, the ICT sector is the fastest growing sectors in Uganda.

At the perspective of internet penetration in the country, there are more than 22 million mobile phone subscribers with 18 million of the subscriber base are internet users. However, the cost of internet in Uganda is still high, a problem NITA-Uganda is trying to fight.

NITA-Uganda and the Ministry of ICT are trying to increase the internet penetration in Uganda by reducing on the cost of internet in the first place.

With the introduction of the NBI Project (Optic Fiber Network) which is currently in its 4th phase, sees the reduction in the cost of internet from USD$1200 to USD$70 per mps which represents an 84% reduction in cost.

Before the eGovernment Excellence Awards kicked off, NITA-Uganda ED; Mr. James Sakka in an interview with NBS TV, said the government plans on reducing the cost of internet from the current USD$70 to USD$30.

Rt. Hon. in his address speech called upon all government MDAs to use NITA-Uganda internet.

“I appeal to all government MDAs and local governments to use this NITA-Uganda internet. Not only for its quality and speed but because it saves government a lot of money,” he said.

He concluded saying, “cheaper internet means we can serve Ugandans more efficiently while saving our much needed funds.”

In his closing remarks, Rt. Rugunda said the government will continue to support the use eGovernment to enhance service delivery.

“The growth of eGovernment does not only improve service delivery in the pure sense, it is also an important enabler in the fight against corruption,” he said.

The Prime Minister then took the honor to award nominees in the categories of CIO of the year, Government Entity of the Year, and Citizen Choice.

Martin Sekajja from KCCA won the CIO of the year award, while NSSF won the Government Entity of the Year, and URA won the Citizen Choice.

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) took the spot light at the awards, winning three — Outstanding Sector eService Award: Tourism and Trade sector award, Best Exhibitor at eGovernment Expo award, and Citizen Choice award.

FULL LIST OF THE 2019 eGOVERNMENT EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS