This week, MYICT, RwandaOnline Platform Ltd., and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) are involved in the very first eGovernment (eGov) week to be hosted here in Kigali, Rwanda.
RwandaOnline hosted the first annual eGov business breakfast to kick off the week’s events on Tuesday February 16th at Hotel des Milles Collines, and will be participating in numerous other events throughout the week.
The main objective of the week is to gather Government of Rwanda Officials, members of the private sector, community innovators and key international organisations for a series of high-level strategic discussions surrounding the Smart Rwanda 2020 Plan and more specifically the topic “Building a Smart Government: Online Governance in Rwanda”.
Ways to expand the country’s eGov platform initiative “Irembo” will also be explored as will global eGov trends, the United Nations’ newly launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and other key areas supporting the Smart Rwanda 2020 Plan.
During the eGov breakfast on Wednesday 16th February, Rwanda Government board CEO Prof Shyaka Anastase had this to say on the topic of eGovernance “Smart countries have good governance, but smarter countries have good governance and advanced technology”.
He went on to add “eGovernment will accelerate the excellency in service delivery and will provide global solutions for local challenges. He also pointed out that “Irembo is a key part of good governance” and encouraged all citizens to use it because “as a self-service it will save the individual both time and money”.
The Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, also encouraged all citizens to take advantage of the eGovernance services provided to them, stating one benefit as being that Rwandan citizens, residents and even tourists looking to visit the country “can now get access to government services without necessarily having to move from place to place”.
He went on to add “Irembo is heading in an exciting direction, paving the way for citizens to suggest the services they want online”.
Richard Kerby, Inter–regional adviser on eGov knowledge management added “Rwanda is on the top of the list of countries in Africa that are implementing eGovernment and Irembo is a step forward for better service delivery of government services”.
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