STATEMENT BY THE RIGHT HON. PRIME MINISTER

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

AT THE BUSINESS FORUM AT THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE

MALTA 25 NOVEMBER 2015

 

 

Chairman and Members of the Business Forum

 

 

Quick, reliable and efficient communication is in the essence of good working relationships, whether between people, enterprises, or countries. And equipment of almost every conceivable shape or function has been transformed in the revolution of technological progress. ICT, as we know it, has impacted in many different forms, from the smartphone to the driverless car and the 3D printer.

The application of ICT within government - Egovernment as we know it - when installed and functional, is carrying dramatic efficiency gains within our Government administration in Swaziland and for the people we serve. When processing transactions, e-government is reducing the time spent, improves accuracy, reduces cost, extends the reach of services and correlates data between agencies. For users, it is broadening service access, as well as reducing time spent, for both provider and user, and the costs incurred. Without any doubt, e-government empowers!

In the broader sense, by making itself accessible and affordable, we are strong believers in e-government enabling a society to avoid the digital divide. It is slowly transforming our country into an information society and a more sophisticated knowledge economy. But the emphasis is on the word "slowly."

Because setting up e-government, sustaining an efficient and effective infrastructure, and carrying out the process re-engineering work, cost a great deal of money, and require the skilled manpower which many developing countries like Swaziland simply do not have. It is very much like the use of solar power - compelling in terms of ultimate cost per unit of electricity but with initial installation costs that present a huge challenge to the national budget.

So our progress is inevitably slower than we would like, always playing catch-up with ICT progress rather than having everything in place and upgrading as we go along.

Working within the boundaries imposed by resource availability, we are making reasonable progress. In the first instance, e-government has facilitated the establishment of civil registration and immigration processes in Swaziland. A personal identification number (PIN) has been issued for nearly all the population and ICT has enabled this information to link up automatically with birth certificates, personal and other transactions throughout the system. Mobile tracking of immigration and civil registration applications reduces time spent travelling and queuing.

The PIN then enables our health services system to track personal health history, including medication and surgical procedures. Medication reminders, especially important with antiretroviral HIV treatment, can be communicated and notifications made on epidemics and immunisation programmes.

ICT is improving our education and training systems. All students now register with their PIN which is linked to all relevant educational information such as tertiary institution registration, examination results and scholarship awards. There is also an ongoing programme to provide schools with computers to create the foundations of a fully e-literate society.

An important development in our social welfare framework is the electronic disbursement of elderly grants through the banks and postal service.

In common with most other countries, but in the category of pioneering measures for a country the size of Swaziland, we have the internet and mobile banking services, company registration, and judicial case management system, all now part of the e-government system or general upgrading of services through ICT.

With the desire to lead from the front, I initiated a new eCabinet system which has delivered all that we expected from the application of ICT. In the new system, Cabinet information and processes are not only digitalised, but we have taken that further step in the ICT journey and established a paperless Cabinet, with hard copy now a feature of history.

The outcome of this e-conversion is, in the first instance, greater speed of communicating and storing Cabinet submissions and decisions. Secondly it reduces enormously the labour, transport and paper costs previously incurred when Cabinet papers were submitted individually to the Cabinet Office, then distributed collectively to Ministers for their review. This also applies to the process of disseminating Cabinet decisions. Furthermore, the mounds of papers brought to the Cabinet Room have gone - with discussion of issues in Cabinet assisted instead by mini computer screens.

That does bring me to the question - is a paperless Government an imminent reality or will there always be a good reason, or unshakeable habit, or lack of confidence, that demands the eternal presence of hard copy? It would be interesting to hear the views of my fellow panellists.

 

At the most recent meeting of Heads of Public Service within the Commonwealth, it was agreed that an e-government toolkit would be designed and made available to all member states. That has been implemented for Swaziland. A golden rule attached to that initiative – one we have borne closely in mind, is the necessary business re-engineering work. This primarily requires making sure that the processes are correct before applying the technology.

What could the Commonwealth do to assist Swaziland beyond what it has done already? Before answering that question, let me place on record our deep appreciation for the assistance that the Commonwealth has already given Swaziland in the eGovernment programme, together with contributions by other development partners like the United Nations. We have also appreciated being invited to this event and to have been able to share experiences with the Maltese Government.

 

One obvious suggestion to the Commonwealth has to be: please continue to assist Swaziland with financial and human resources to facilitate a surge of implementation. A further thought is - can, or will, technology enable member states to share ICT infrastructure costs and benefits in the manner that developing countries in Africa are able to obtain electricity from giant hydro-generation plants such as the one in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

 

In the meantime, our commitment to ICT and related innovation can be seen in our Government’s new Royal Science and Technology Park, nearing completion, which will, inter alia, spawn a new generation of innovators within our region.

 

Thank you.