PS DR. ZZAWEDDE ISSUES THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ICT COMMITMENTS IN THE NRM MANIFESTO

27th November, 2024

The Manifesto Accountability week 2024 is ongoing at the conference hall, office of the President. The event started on the 15th November till 5th December, 2024

CONCEPT NOTE ON HOSTING THE MANIFESTO WEEK 2024 FROM 15TH NOVEMBER TO 5TH DECEMBER, 2024

The Office of the President, through the Manifesto Implementation Unit is mandated to track and monitor progress of the implementation of the commitments in the NRM Manifesto 2021-2026 in all Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments.

In reference to the above therefore, the Manifesto Implementation Unit is preparing to host the Manifesto Accountability week which started on the 15th November, 2024. 

This annual event provides an opportunity to celebrate, take stock of the cumulative milestones and achievements of Government on the implementation of this social contract.

The Manifesto Accountability week therefore is organized to appreciate these Manifesto milestones attained, share challenges and strategies for better implementation for the remaining period of the political term.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

ICT Report By The permanent Secretary, Dr. Amina Zzawedde.

The Goal of the Digital Transformation Programme under the National Development Plan (NDP)III is to increase ICT penetration and use of ICT services for social and economic development. The programme objectives are to:

i. Increase the national ICT infrastructure coverage; 

ii. Enhance usage of ICT in national development;

iii. Promote research, innovation and ICT skills development;

iv. Strengthen the policy, legal and regulatory framework; and

v. Increase the ICT human resource capacity.

The objectives alluded to are consistent with the ICT priorities in the NRM Manifesto (2021-2026) which include the following:

i. Increasing ICT network coverage and penetration;

ii. Promoting the utilization of ICT; and

iii. Enhancing digital skills and innovation.

To date, the Programme has registered significant milestones in the Key Result Areas. These include

 Proportion of Government services provided online has increased to 62% by end of June 2024

 Internet penetration has increased to 67% by end of June 2024

 Unit cost of 1Mbps/month of internet has reduced to USD 35 by end of June 2024

 Population covered by broadband services has increased to 85% by end of June 2024

 Digital Terrestrial TV coverage has increased to 85% by end of June 2024

Despite the above achievements, the Programme has some challenges:

i. Despite the potential that ICT has, utilization of its services across the country is still limited due to: 

a) Limited network coverage; 

b) (ii) Poor quality services; 

c) (iii) High cost of end user devices and services; 

d) (iv) Inadequate ICT knowledge and skills; and 

e) (v) Limited innovation capacity.

ii. Automation of government systems or processes is still slow.

iii. The existence of many stand-alone systems in Government that don’t work in sync.

iv. Inadequate complimentary utilities and services such as electricity and road access to support rollout of ICT Infrastructure

v. Very dynamic nature of ICT ecosystem and difficulty in retaining ICT staff in the Government;

vi. Piracy of content produced by the youth especially musicians, video and audio artists, comedians, etc;

vii. Cybercrime has experienced a tremendous increase in level of sophistication mostly in money laundering, erosion of data piracy, acceleration of cyber-attacks, ransomware, and espionage; and

viii. Low funding coupled with persistent budget cuts to the programme.

In order to mitigate the above challenges, these are some of the measures being undertaken:

1. Implementation coordination: Developed the Digital Transformation Roadmap - to strengthen the implementation of enabling policies and laws to accelerate Uganda’s Digital Revolution. It provides an overarching implementation framework for a well-connected Uganda that delivers on the opportunities presented by various technologies.

2. Costs of ICT services: Developed a paper on reducing the cost of ICT end user devices and services. This is expected to improve utilization of ICT services across the country. 

3. ICT penetration and Usage: Extend the National Broadband Infrastructure across the country- this being done under UDAP and more will be under Phase V backbone project.

4. Quality Assurance: Regular review, monitoring and reporting to the Programme Working Group.