emgovernment development within ECOWAS and the ECOWAS Region

1
e/m-government development within ECOWAS and the
ECOWAS Region
2
What is the current thinking/direction on
e-government?

• We know
• e-Government is the use of information and
  communication technologies to improve the
  efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and
  accountability of governance.
• We have modified the definition to fit in with
  the role of the ECOWAS Commission to
• e-Government Deploying ICT tools and processes
  for efficient administration and enhanced flow of
  information for economic and social integration
  and growth for the community
• Within the region, we require
• Efficient administration and enhancement of flow
  of information

3
What are the e-policies we have or are
promoting?

• Strategy
• The ECOWAS Commission is supporting most Member
  States that have an ICT policy with help and
  assistance from ECA and ITU
• An articulated regional ICT policy does not
  currently exist but the ECOWAS Commission is
  promoting the use of harmonised legal frameworks
  on
• E-commerce
• Cybercrime and
• Personal Data Protection
• The frameworks on Cybercrime and Personal Data
  Protection were adopted November 2008 in Praia,
  Cape Verde by the Ministers in charge of ICT
• The E-commerce framework will go before the legal
  and ICT experts in March 2009 for discussion and
  will be submitted to the ministers for adoption.
• The ECOWAS Commission is looking at the
  formulation of a regional ICT policy and have set
  up an ECOWAS ICT Task Force with 7 member states
• In the absence of a policy most of the work being
  carried out in the deployment of ICT tools will
  be co-ordinated by the Task Force
• Capacity Building
• Best practices/Sensitisation

4
What are the e-policies we have or are promoting?

• Platform (Connectivity, Applications) ECOWAN
• To provide a platform through which to deploy ICT
  tools
• ADB will provide the funding
• NEPAD will provide support
• Capacity Building
• All we are doing in terms of Policies and
  Platform development
• Best practices/Sensitisation

5
Goals to Achieve

• Services available to clients (Member States)
• Put in place state of the art modern technology
  for privacy and security
• Deliver services at a low cost
• Develop capacity at regional and national level
• Establish a technology governance structure

6
ECOWAN

• ECOWAN The ECOWAS Wide Area Network
• Is a network with 2 distinct connectivity
  components
• Backbone
• Last mile solution (solution that gets you to the
  end user)
• ECOWAN will provide connectivity to ECOWAS
  Institutions, homes of staff located within a
  25Km radius of the ROC/NOC in ECOWAS Member
  States as well as to the premises of Government
  ministries in Member States.
• Its connectivity will include data, voice and
  video capabilities
• It will serve as a vehicle to which all the
  programs/ applications will run

7
ECOWAN Will

• Facilitate inter-connectivity between member
  states and all institutions of ECOWAS.
• Provide a safe gateway to the African Union
  continental architecture linking its Regional
  Economic Communities.
• Implement all ECOWAS sectoral databases for
  trade, agriculture, industry, energy, etc.
• Provide a secure gateway to the Internet.
• Features of ECOWAN include
• High Speed Internet Access
• Video Conferencing
• Platform for Interactive Distance Learning
• Sharing electronic documents
• Community Intranet