Last week a seminar brought together representatives from public agencies such as Computer Services, the Department of Education Services and the Information Commissioner’s Office, along with some private sector representatives to discuss the plan. The E-Government Advisory Board is chaired by George Town MLA Ellio Solomon.
Commonwealth Secretariat ICT Adviser Tony Ming, a key player in the Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum, told the Cayman officials, “On a global scale, the priority is implementing national information communication technology strategies and e-government.”
Ming said that in a 2006 World Bank ICT survey of 40 countries almost all listed e-government as the major priority. Other top-ranking areas were e-education, e-business and e-health.
He noted that this critical public sector development would serve to build capacity and promote the effectiveness and efficiency of public institutions, while strengthening the capacity of areas critical to good governance and sustainable development.
ICT also ties in to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Millennium Development Goals 2015, which include the reduction of extreme poverty, universal education, improved environmental sustainability and building global partnerships.
In Cayman the goals are to establish a platform for the development of ICT and update legislation, to manage ICT through a statutory authority, to deliver state-of-the-art telecommunications at competitive prices and improve computer literacy amongst the population, to list a few.
Government also said it wants to encourage the use of on-line technology for businesses in the private sector and to encourage economic diversification by promoting the local and international growth of e-business.
However, one of the main stumbling blocks to the expansion of online trade in Cayman is the banks reluctance to offer accounts that enable people to shop on-line. Despite promises from the other retail banks, so far Butterfield remains the only one offering the merchant account with internet payment facilities.
Officials also hope the public sector can use IT to improve customer service and efficiency and allow easier public access to information, while at the same time protecting personal information and electronic data.
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Quelle/Source: Cayman News Service, 17.12.2010
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