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GITOC crucial for govt ICT

Farzana Rasool
By Farzana Rasool, ITWeb IT in Government Editor.
Johannesburg, 29 Feb 2012

The Government IT Officers Council (GITOC) is central to the implementation of ICT initiatives within government, says public service and administration minister Roy Padayachie.

The minister met with members of the council this week. GITOC is comprised of CIOs from national government departments and provincial government IT officers, as default members, with all other public entities' CIOs admitted as associate members.

It is the principal inter-departmental forum focusing on ICT and information management (IM) in the South African public service, supporting and guiding the government CIO to operationalise the government IT and IM policies and provide feedback on their implementation and updates, according to the department.

However, government has not had a CIO since Michelle Williams stepped down last April.

Defining relationships

Prevalent in the discussions at the workshop was the need to create a common understanding of the role of GITOC within government, with the matter declared a priority for resolve this financial year.

The department also says other pertinent questions for resolve by the council include its relationship with other government IT bodies, including the Office of Public Service ICT Management within the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), the State IT Agency (SITA) and other government departments.

The workshop was attended by the director-general for the Department of Public Service and Administration, Mashwahle Diphofa; CEO of SITA, Blake Mosley-Lefatola; as well as members of the Ministerial Advisory Panel on ICT.

ICT strategy

Padayachie said the council's role in ensuring government connectivity, which would in turn enhance public service delivery, is crucial.

On the workshop agenda were issues of ICT procurement, governance, projects and information security. “A structured process within the regulatory framework for the provision of transversal tenders is near completion on the matter of procurement processes. On projects, the development of a government-wide project management framework is planned for completion within the course of 2012,” says the department.

It adds that information security priorities for the year include the appointment of the core committee to deal with sensitive matters of security, the promulgation of the information systems security, and the revision of the minimum information security standards into the institute for security studies framework.

“Governance priorities include the establishment of an architecture governance model under the government-wide enterprise architecture system. Other priorities include the finalisation of the government-wide ICT strategy, the implementation of proposed transformation changes in particular, legislative amendments and constitutional changes.”

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