Forget debates over whether the country requires an ICT minister, SA`s minister for public services and administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi told the IT industry.
Instead, she called for more focus on cooperation and public private partnerships (PPPs) within the ICT space.
"We should rather be concentrating on issues inside the State IT Agency (SITA)," she said yesterday at an industry-briefing event organised by the agency.
Fraser-Moleketi highlighted that spending time developing sound PPPs would be wiser than fruitlessly lobbying for a new ministerial position to cater for the ICT sector specifically.
The debate over whether SA needs a minister of ICT was sparked by a ForgeAhead report, which stated several government officials called for such a position to be instituted.
ICT resolution
Jane Mosebi, MD of ForgeAhead, has gone on record as saying there is no single point of contact for the resolution of ICT issues, which results in insufficient ICT budgets.
However, Fraser-Moleketi stressed that PPPs would benefit both parties. "The private sector should recognise that government is a substantial player in - and consumer of - IT services," she said.
She described SITA`s Integrated Financial Management System, a R4 billion project still in its infancy, as "an incredible, exciting project".
SITA is set to begin engagements with the private sector over phases two and three of this project within the next three weeks.
"Government is the largest client [an industry player can attract], and I would like to make a call to action for the industry to get involved in public contracts."
Related story:
Call for ICT minister to be appointed
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