Zimbabwe has set a target of fully digitalizing the entire government systems by 2030 as part of its drive toward a digital economy.
To promote the adoption of a paperless government system, Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services Jenfan Muswere on Wednesday officially launched the first phase of the ICTs for e-government program for the Ministry of Public Services, Labor and Social Welfare.
A total of 160 computers were handed over to the targeted ministry through the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe to speed up its digitization process. Most services are still done through paperwork.
“It is very important for us as a country to be able to train civil servants for us to be able to utilize information communication technology as we journey towards a digital economy which is now a reality in terms of the fourth industrial revolution,” Muswere said.
The government has identified a digital economy as the key catalyst in transforming service delivery and improving efficiency in government departments, he said.
“Our core mandate is to ensure that we connect the unconnected,” Muswere said. “We train the people to provide the necessary digital gadgets for us to be able to create a functional digital ecosystem within government.”
Speaking at the same event, Deputy Minister of Public Services, Labor and Social Welfare Lovemore Matuke said like other countries, Zimbabwe identified the urgent need to adopt digitization to improve service delivery and promote development.
“It is therefore imperative for the ministry’s services to be digitized in order to achieve our national vision of an empowered and prosperous upper-middle-income society by 2030,” he said.
Matuke said that the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many services moving to virtual platforms, showed the need to speed up the national digitization process. Enditem
