IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

On July 15, the first copy of the biometric passport with the technical specifications of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) was issued. The information emerged from a final preparatory meeting for the launch of the travel document in Yaoundé on Monday, chaired by the Secretary General of National Security, (DGSN) Victor Ndocki. Up to July 26, the DGSN said 5,000 of such documents have been issued.

In recent years, Africa has witnessed the launch of numerous smart city projects aimed at bridging the technology gap affecting the continent.

Brigadier General Bonjean Rodrigue Mbanza, Gabon's Minister of Digital Economy and New Information Technologies, made an official visit to Cameroon on Tuesday, July 2 to explore technologies for a Smart City project in Gabon. The visit aimed to examine existing technologies and draw inspiration to support the development of the project.

The registration process will entail the registration of all voters’ fingerprints to verify their credibility.

The agency selected the German firm Giesecke und Devrient to undertake work. The contract signing ceremony took place in April at the Elections Cameroon head office in Bastos-Yaounde.

Cameroon aspires to be a tech hub and “multiply by 50” jobs in ICTs. But high costs, poor infrastructure and the internet blackout in Silicon Mountain undermine this vision.

For nearly two months now, Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions have been living under an internet blackout. Communication by email and social media has ground to a halt. Banks and ATMs have stopped services. And companies that rely on the internet to do business have suffered tremendously.

Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred via telephone, the Internet or other networks.

It will be hard to achieve the Millennium Development Goals without fully integrating the Information and Communication Technology component. This is the key idea that came out from the visit to Cameroon of Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The centre known as Genesis Telecare was inaugurated in Yaounde yesterday 21st April 2009 by the Secretary General in the Ministry of Public Health, Professor Fru Angwafor III.

Prof. Fru Angwafor III said the initiative is a major step towards reducing longstanding problems in the health sector. Telemedicine provides a timely remedy to the numerous difficulties encountered by medical practitioners and patients, he noted.

In the health sector these technologies have proven to be a significant factor for an effective and comprehensive planning, management and estimation of healthcare. The increased development of and use of these technologies in health delivery systems in the industrialised countries led to an improvement of the quality of service, security as well as to cost reduction for patients.

On November 27, 2014, following a government seminar on the development of electronic administration (e-government) in Cameroon, government officials announced the experiment will be expanded to include several other primary schools.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency, KOICA, on March 27, 2015, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, for a three-year E-governance project.

KOICA's Resident Representative to Cameroon, Kim Tae Young, said the MoU seeks to establish the project's master plan. A glamorous word as master plan could mean much in terms of what to expect from the initiative, which is apparently still in the budding state, given the path still to be covered for Cameroonians to feel the effect in their daily lives.

"To fully succeed in, and become a sub-regional hub of digital transformation, Cameroon must very quickly move on costs, access, quality of services and on improving the sector's competitiveness, while having its sight set on job-creation and accelerating innovation ".

These are the words of Antonio Pedro, Director of the Subregional Office for Central Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), during a consultation with various stakeholders of Cameroon's digital transition project, moderated by ECA's Economic Affairs Officer Mactar Seck, and chaired by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cameroon, Ms. Minette Libom Li Likeng, this Thursday at the ECA premises in Yaounde.

Prime Minister Yang was talking this Thursday 27th November 2014 at the Star Building in Yaounde as he chaired a government seminar to scrutinise strategies on the development e-government.

On the occasion, the stakes and challenges of the electronic governance in the public administration were addressed.

A new curriculum under the patronage of Cameroonian's First Lady will be launched soon by IAI Cameroon.

African Institute of Computer Science dubbed IAI Cameroun-"Centre d'Excellence Technologique Paul Biya" is intensifying its programme to train more Cameroonians in the use of Information and Communication technologies (ICTs). After an operation to train 100,000 women in the use of ICTs before 2012, the institution will on Friday, March 13, 2015 launch a new operation dubbed Operation MIJEF by 2035 with the First Lady of the country, Mrs Chantal Biya as the national matron. During the launching of operation MIJEF which hopes to train 1,000,000 children, youths and women in the use of ICTs by 2035, a Golden Book to commemorate the first Operation 100,000 women by 2012 will be dedicated.

The economic capital, Douala, last Monday December 12 became the first city to have an optical fibre ring. The ring that measures over 50 kilometres cost some FCFA 3 billion entirely funded by the Telecommunications Special Fund. It ushers the "First Smart City" in particular and Cameroon in general into a society of information and knowledge.

Presiding at the inauguration ceremony, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Jean Biyiti bi Essam, said the major accomplishment in the telecommunications sector translates government's will to stimulate and accelerate economic growth using Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs.

Ambassador Hosung Lee further disclosed to the press that Korean Members of Parliament will soon be visiting Cameroon. This, he said, follows the creation of an association of Korean and Cameroonian parliamentarians. House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and Ambassador Hosung Lee also discussed the situation in the Korean Peninsula, specifically relations between North and South Korea.

MTN Cameroon, leader of the telecommunications sector in Cameroon has signed a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Public Health, authorizing MTN Cameroon to provide the public with a mobile health assistance platform dubbed MTN Health.

The MTN Health platform will enable everyone, irrespective of their location, to contact a medical doctor or hospital, ask questions, and benefit from health tips.