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Minister tells SITA to hurry up

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 20 Jul 2017
Telecoms and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele. (Photo source: WEF)
Telecoms and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele. (Photo source: WEF)

The State IT Agency (SITA) needs to finalise the country's national e-government strategy and roadmap to remain relevant within government, said telecommunications and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele.

Cwele's comments come on the back of SITA missing the 31 March deadline to finalise SA's national e-government strategy and roadmap.

The minister is of the view that missing this deadline can lead to questions about the agency's relevance by organs of state that it serves, resulting in it being side-lined.

Speaking yesterday at SITA's e-government industry session engagement, Cwele implored the agency's management and officials not to succumb to endless consultation processes that yield no results.

He highlighted that it had been a year since SITA hosted a similar industry session.

While meetings with industry stakeholders provide key input for government, SITA must ensure the outcomes of these gatherings are implemented, Cwele stated.

According to him, SA is not doing well in global ICT indexes primarily because of poor e-governance adoption. Currently, we rank 76th on the UN E-Government Survey of 2016.

He said: "SITA is our lead agency tasked with the finalisation of our national e-governance strategy and roadmap. The deadline for this strategy was 31 March 2017. This target has not been met and to date has not been completed. This strategy has to be finalised. It is a key strategy that will guide SITA on its mandate. It is a key strategy to make SITA relevant.

"Endless consultations are not a substitute to a strategy that should guide a new mandate and functioning of SITA if this agency wants to be relevant to this government."

SITA is the agency government set up to consolidate ICT spend and advisory, and make sure all government departments have one point of contact in terms of ICT. The agency has also been tasked with driving government's e-strategy agenda.

SA's e-government policy framework proposes the use of ICT to improve the state's efficiency and effectiveness, and make it convenient for citizens to access services.

According to the telecoms department, this strategy builds on the various e-government initiatives implemented by a number of departments over the past 14 years. Its purpose is to guide the digital transformation of public service in SA into an inclusive digital society.

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