Joseph Tiampati (right). CC image courtesy of CCK Kenya on Flickr
Kenya’s drive to digitise government operations will improve efficiency, transparency and accountability, Ministry of ICT principal secretary Joseph Tiampati told the Connected Kenya 2014 conference as it got underway in Mombasa.
The highly anticipated ICT summit began today, bringing together a host of government officials, industry stakeholders and representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan to explore ways of breaking the barriers in technology.
Tiampati said ICT is the key factor to the Kenyan economy and was also the 21st century infrastructure.
“As the ICT ministry, we are leading from the front by digitising our operations. The ministry has started with a major initiative to have all its operations on a digital platform as a way of improving efficiency, transparency and accountability,” he said.
The move is aimed at cutting down expenditure on procurement.
“In implementing the ministry’s ICT policy, focus is directed to the need to promote quality of service and responsiveness to customer needs, the Kenyan citizen,” said Tiampati.
His sentiments on ICT for development were echoed by Mark Walker, programme director at International Data Corporation (IDC) Kenya.
“When the economy grows, everyone benefits,” said Walker.
In his opening remarks, Kenya ICT Authority chief executive officer (CEO) Victor Kyalo said there was demand from the private sector for the government to have an organised way of dealing with ICT matters as well as to have a focal point for guidance, and that such ideas would be developed at the event.
“Connected Kenya is not a talking show but will produce a true source of development ideas,” said Kyalo.
The main objectives of the event are to create awareness for senior government officials to enable them effectively support the implementation of ICT projects in the public sector, to increase the understanding of factors that limit Kenya’s full ICT transformation, and gain insight on how to mitigate obstacles and increase ICT’s impact on service delivery.
