In line with SITA's newly announced strategy to increase market share within municipalities and local government, it has formed a partnership with CIPAL, the Centre of Informatics in the Province of Antwerpen and Limburg in Flanders, Belgium.
SITA acting CEO Ken Modise said SITA has put in place a strategy to position itself in the local government market. "This is to provide improvements in a number of areas such as enhancing information management, optimising transactional effectiveness for increased throughput, and enhancing knowledge management. In total there are 284 municipalities across SA.
"We also aim to provide seamless integration of fragmented infrastructures and contribute towards gaining IT value," he explained.
CIPAL is an industry-driven equivalent of SITA. It has been in operation for 20 years and focuses on markets SITA now wishes to address, local government and municipalities.
"CIPAL will bring to SITA methodologies and local authority systems to achieve these objectives as well as international benchmarking methods to measure the effectiveness of systems implemented. A pilot project is already under way in the Free State," added Modise.
CIPAL CEO Arthur Phillips added: "CIPAL will assist SITA in expanding and growing the public sector market. SITA will have access to CIPAL-developed systems for public entities. We will explore appropriate projects in which to partner with SITA and then define the process of assessing business opportunities in which we will jointly become involved."
In terms of governance, a co-ordination committee will be established and both parties will nominate two persons to act as co-ordinators.
All procurement will continue to be done through SITA's IT Acquisition Centre (ITAC). Through ITAC, SITA aims to provide local government and municipalities with competitive pricing and ensure that the best products and services are provided to public authorities.
"Our aim is to also achieve operational excellence and enhance integration within local government," explained Modise.
CIPAL uses mainframe technology, database software, network infrastructures, laser printing facilities and desktop products that are familiar within SITA. SITA has had the opportunity to gain knowledge on how CIPAL uses these systems in delivering services to the public sector in Belgium, as well as how problems common to the public sector are being addressed.
"We can learn from the systems implemented in Belgium within their local authorities with a view to improving our services," noted Modise.
CIPAL's activities concentrate on all IT services for communities in the various provinces and cities within Belgium.
Strict laws and regulations organise the composition of CIPAL. The General Assembly consists of municipal delegates of the provincial authorities of approximately 170 representatives. From its members the general assembly appoints a board of directors, from which the management committee is chosen.
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