Residents of the Gasabo District in Rwanda finally got a taste of e-Government services with the launch of an e-Government online portal. The initiative garnered praises from residents who expressed optimism that e-Government would improve their lives.
A local resident Laurent Turimumahoro shared how the portal has lessened the time needed to acquire specific services compared to long distances he used to walk before technology came into the picture.
“Things are changing that we no longer queue to get services. When you are registered to MTN Mobile Money or Tigo Cash, for instance, all you need is to be aware of how to use your phone and immediately get the service within few minutes,” he said.
To ensure acceptance and adoption, the government embarked on an information drive which saw officials from the Ministry of Youth and ICT and Rwanda Online fanning out into the streets and personally speaking with the residents. An e-Government team from United Nations was also present to lend support for the info campaign.
This latest deployment is part of Rwanda’s comprehensive e-Government Master Plan Project which aims to automate not only government-to-citizen (G2C) services, but also processes that deal with government-to-government (G2G) and government-to-business (G2B) transactions in the country.
The Rwandan government’s continuing efforts to bring e-services to its citizens have earned praises from the African community.
Secretary General of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Professor Tim Unwin cited Rwanda’s efforts in harnessing ICT’s potentials to deliver government services more efficiently.
“I congratulate the Rwandan people and the government for all achievements in the use of ICTs for sustainable development and for wide contributions. The progress of about 28 per cent internet penetration, more than 70 per cent mobile phone penetration and the recently adopted cyber security policy are some of the indicators of the government’s efforts toward achieving the benefits of e-Governance systems,” he said.
South Korea’s ambassador to Rwanda Hwang Soon-Taik of South Korea credited the government for is embracing e-Government; saying that this is important for the African country to “achieve more as we did in Korea.”
