Tech firms progress Uganda's ICT

IT firms, Computer Point and IBM, have signed an agreement to improve ICT in Uganda, in order to transform the country's business operations, reports New Vision.

“This partnership is a positive step in closing the ICT gap, especially among businesses operating in the East African Community. The move will speed up economic development across the region through our enhanced services,” says Anil Kuruvilla, Computer Point managing director.

The partnership mandates Computer Point, an IT systems integrator, to offer infrastructure, application maintenance and development to financial institutions, the government, telecoms and other corporate companies in Uganda on behalf of IBM.

HP Middle East and the Ministry of Education in Kuwait are working towards improving teaching skills that will strengthen the integration of technology in schools, states Zawya.

HP says the agreement is driven by the need for technology education infrastructure in Kuwait and is designed to foster digital inclusion. The memorandum of agreement will see technology training, tailored curriculum development, access to the latest technologies and the ability to empower schools to raise the levels of ICT literacy.

HP will improve efficiency in the ministry's IT usage, such as client virtualisation and provide continuous account management assistance to ensure regular contact between HP and the Ministry of Education.

Mark Hucklesby, national technical director at Grant Thornton New Zealand, has looked at the government's move to outsource its ICT systems and outlines what else should be done to reduce its current $2 billion annual spend, says Scoop.

As the government looks to reduce debt and increase economic performance as outlined in the state-of-the-nation address by prime minister John Key, analysts claim the New Zealand government should overhaul and outsource its ICT systems.

An ICT tender, targeted at reducing cross-government spend of $2 billion annually would see the outsourcing of network management and ownership of the servers; a type of cloud computing. The government ends up paying only for the services it uses and needs.