IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Imagine you're a two-day trip away from the nearest doctor and are starting to experience flu-like symptoms, but you're unsure if it's malaria, swine flu or merely a common cold.

Why not just SMS a doctor and be diagnosed over the phone?

By March, you'll be able to do just that.

Telemedicine, as long-distance diagnosing, teaching and monitoring is known, will soon be introduced across the country, said executives of MTN and Sanlam, who have teamed up to develop and launch the technology.

They say cash is king, but Joburg Metrobus says cash-less is the future, as they forge ahead with their plan, come October 1.

Joburg Metrobus said the move aims to enhance the convenience and efficiency of their services.

At the beginning of last month, Metrobus notified its current and potential commuters that effective from October 1, it is going cashless.

Imagine a South Africa where you can apply for an ID or driver’s license without waiting in long queues or being sent home because the system is offline.

One where you can apply for a government job without going through the dreaded Z83 form, one where government processes are transparent and the workers are held accountable.

How much does government spend on ICT? Is it enough? And is it well spent? We hear much about lack of coordination, shortages of key skills and an unhappy workforce in SITA, along with challenges in implementing policy aimed at promoting e-services and narrowing the digital divide.

A new report, SA ICT spend in National and Provincial Government 2016 from analyst firm BMI-TechKnowledge, provides some answers.

Government is failing to use information and communications technology to improve its operations; and the costs of access to the wired world remain way too high, stifling productivity.

This is according to the findings of a report by the World Economic Forum, in association with Insead Business School of Switzerland, on the progress and impact of information technology around the world.

Although the DPSA did achieve the publication of an ICT governance framework, it has yet to do something around a security framework. In addition, it is not clear whether it has achieved any noticeable goals this year.

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan earlier this year lashed government departments and agencies for spending just R178 billion of a planned R260 billion for the 2010/11 tax year. Technology was one of the areas where many government departments struggled to spend their allocated budgets for the year.

The result is that the IT industry has lost out on substantial revenue from a sector that is one of the largest customers for its products and services. Government accounts for around a quarter of IT spending in SA, according to market researcher IDC. Worse still, projects key to improving public service efficiency or enhancing service to citizens have faltered over the past few years.

The Treasury, along with the government in Gauteng, will make up a R390 million annual revenue shortfall created by changes made to the  e-toll system in 2015.

According to BusinessDay, tax payers will fund the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) for the next 22 years, after Cyril Ramaphosa announced a new funding structure to a toll system which has been widely rejected by the public.

A new e-toll dispensation announced in May last year, resulted in fees being cut by 50%, a cap on fees and discounts on outstanding fees.

The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has committed to train one million young people to be data scientists between 2019 and 2030.

“We want to produce people with skills, people who have knowledge and can find solutions to the challenges we are facing. Ours is to build a knowledge based society which is why we are training one million people,” said Deputy Minister for Telecommunications and Postal Services Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, but Joomla dominates when looking at South African government websites.

Recent research by BuiltWith shows that 63% of the world’s top million websites are powered by WordPress.

Joomla is second with 11% and Drupal third with 9%.

Cabinet has given government's national ICT strategies the seal of approval, and they are now waiting to be gazetted.

Delivering resolutions of a 1 November meeting, yesterday communications minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the national executive approved the national e-strategy, national e-government strategy and roadmap, as well as the ICT small, medium and micro-sized enterprise (SMME) development strategy.

To ease the archaic manner in which to apply for public sector jobs, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has introduced a Web-based solution to its recruitment processes.

Dubbed e-Job, the DPSA's new recruitment Web site means applicants are now able to fill out a digital Z83 form as well as upload all relevant employment documentation online.

Government has finally appointed a permanent CIO, filling the post that has been vacant for more than six years.

The state had been without an IT head since the resignation of CIO Michelle Williams at the end of April 2011. Williams initially took up the position in November 2007.

Government's ICT spend is estimated this to reach $707.6 million in 2019, after reaching a total of $615.9 million in 2014, according to latest research by Frost & Sullivan.

The research house says departments across the public sector are planning to introduce e-government services with the objective of improving ICT infrastructure in SA. "To achieve this, there will be an increased investment in software licences, specialised computer services, system advisers, and system development."

Frost & Sullivan says managed services, combined with fixed and non-cellular connectivity, accounted for 73.1% of ICT investments in 2014.

During his budget vote speech yesterday, deputy minister Hlengiwe Mkhize said this is because the department acknowledges that technology in education is increasingly occupying a dominant space in the 21st century.

“E-learning has the potential to fast-track open and distance education and training, which will enable access for vulnerable groups, including the disabled and learners from rural communities.”

The project, believed to be the biggest of its kind within government, is set to be implemented in 2015, and should provide the department with real-time statistics relating to a lack of teachers in classrooms.

However, biometric clock-in systems are susceptible to vandalism, and the range and diversity of schools in SA will make implementation challenging.

E-government services are one of the key areas the administration should be looking to pay more attention to in 2019.

This is the sentiment shared by Frost & Sullivan, stating that government is yet to take full advantage of the potential offered by advanced technologies such as the cloud and the Internet of things.

SA's national and provincial government department ICT expenditure reached R14 billion for the 2015/2016 financial year.

This is according to a new report published by BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T), which shows how much money government dedicated to ICT for the year in question.

The aim of this project is to drive efficiency within government and curb fraudulent and irregular activities.

The IFMS is a joint initiative between the DPSA, National Treasury and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

The IFMS integrates IT systems that support HR management, supply chain and financial management in the department. The HR module replaces legacy systems Persal, Bas, Logis and Vulindlela, some of which predate 1998, according to SITA.

GovTech’s 10th conference kicks off in Durban today with an opening keynote address from the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele (MP). GovTech is being held at Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban and is expected to attract up to 2 000 delegates.

Service delivery is a thematic focus of the presentations this year, with today’s lineup including a look at ‘How ICT can drive service delivery’ by Alpheus Mangale, Chief Business Enterprise Officer at MTN, and a second keynote this afternoon by Michael Jordaan, founder of MonteGray Capital and ex-FNB SA CEO, who will provide insights into how ‘Innovation and implementation will lead to delivery’.