The Government will need about shs345b ($139m) over the next five years to implement an e-Government structure designed to improve efficiency in delivery of public services. This is contained in a report on an e-Government master plan released yesterday at the Imperial Royale hotel in Kampala.
E-government refers to the use of the internet to deliver government information and services to citizens.
If approved by the Government, implementation of the five year plan will start this year, with the help of experts from South Korea's National IT Promotion Agency (NIPA).
ICT minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda said the plan would help the Government to prioritize investment information communication technology (ICT) to address development challenges. "Uganda will take advantage of this well developed path and close relations with South Korea in ICT to fight unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment," he stated.
Rugunda hailed the Government of South Korea for supporting Uganda's ICT infrastructure and said the Government would adopt the Asian power's development path by investing in technology.
"The Government is encouraging innovators, software developers and entrepreneurs to emulate these great examples," he said. South Korea has the world's best e-governance structure, according to the 2012 United Nations e-Government survey.
Gae Lee, one of the NIPA consultants, noted that although Uganda established the necessary legal framework to develop ICTs, there was no specific action plan to implement e-governance.
Presenting an evaluation on the use of ICTs by Government institutions, Lee noted that only the Uganda Revenue Authority had attained the highest level because of the e-tax facility.
