The Information Communication ICT, Agency which has earned Edo State various local and national awards for ICT development, E-governance implementation and broad band penetration plans and programs has lived up to its mandate as the power house of the MEGA agenda revolution of the Governor Godwin Obaseki led administration.
This was disclosed at the weekend by Mr. Goodluck Igbinedion, Managing Director, ICT, Agency during the sixth session of the Webinar series by Edo State Ministry of Communication and Orientation in collaboration with Edo Media Connect Forum with the theme, E-Governance and the Civil Service Transformation Agenda: A Catalyst for institutional Reform in Edo State.
He said the mandate of the ICT agency is to provide a one stop shop for all technology solution, partner with government departments and agencies, ware house government data and automate government processes and build the e-literacy of the civil service and its employees, adding that in terms of implementation, the ICT agency developed the EdoGov program to automate all government operations.
“This program has various approaches captured under three headings, Networked Government and Accessibility, Government presence and Open –source E-citizen participation and collaboration and Data capture, Preservation , Privacy and Security. The EdoGov program has enabled an accessible, transparent, accountable and responsive centralization of all government operations to enhance decision making, improve public administration as well as contribute to inclusive democratic practices.
“The government is ramping up quickly to connect all ministries, Departments and Agencies into a fully centralized process and the VPN is currently being installed to complete the connectivity of all public institution in Edo State. Apart from ensuring the integration of all administrative operations, business processes, reporting , human resource activities of Ministries and Departments and Agencies, the ICT Agency also provides broadband connectivity, digital equipment, document management system, onboarding of staff and training of all civil servants.
“This is to ensure seamless and prompt information flow across the entire ecosystem, widen access for communication, promote smooth and coordinated knowledge creation within the civil service structures, enable prompt risk assessment and encourage interoperability of systems and processes. This approach is now being extended to local government areas and so far ten community proof of concept rural telephony projects are in place with ongoing surveys to assess density for effective deployment,” he added.
According to him, the Government Presence through Open-Source E-citizen to ensure transparency, participation and collaboration necessitated the incorporation of a user – interface in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool so as to engage civil servants in planning and decision making across government structures and work is ongoing to introduce more open source tools and applications in government .
Mr. Igbinedion maintained that Edo State government has a three tier data management system with full proof data management coverage and back – up, cloud solution and security, data warehousing centre in Benin with up to date data management template and to ensure effective security and management of this repository, the system infrastructure is reliable and administered by certified data personnel with up to date knowledge of the legal, regulatory policy, ethical and technical issues in data management, availability, integrity, security and privacy.
The second speaker during the Webinar, Precious Imuwahen Ajoonu, Managing Director, John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy, maintained that knowledge economy and Information society sit at the heart of the MEGA Agenda of the Obaseki-led administration, therefore the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy developed the EdoSTEP program and adopted three functional approaches to drive its cultural transformation agenda in the Edo State civil service and they include, pedagogical approaches, performance management and institutionalization.
“On the pedagogical reform approaches the Public Service Academy has developed a system to assess the prior competencies of staff of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Edo State with a view to identifying their learning needs and developing bespoke contents to address those needs. In addition, a post training assessment measure is introduced as part of performance management approach to ensure the effectiveness of the evidence based training of civil servants.
“Therefore, a system of peer learning , training the trainer and infusion of trainers from the various communities of practice is being implemented under a cultural atmosphere of unlearning and relearning . The development of ICT labs and E- learning Management System in collaboration with the ICT Agency is in progress to shape and advance these initiatives ,” she added.
“The performance management reform approach enabled the use of balance scorecard as a tool for measuring performance against set benchmarks on cultural transformation and the goal is to build high performance culture, instill a reward mechanism for improved cultural behaviors and codification of the processes. This reward system is being driven in collaboration with the head of service. On the institutional approach, the Public Service Academy is codifying its processes working on an enabling law and developing an operational play,” she noted.
Both speakers, Precious Imuwahen Ajoonu and Mr. Goodluck Igbinedion enjoined Edo Citizens and inhabitants both at home and in Diaspora to support the E-Governance initiatives of the Obaseki led administration with a view to bringing the dividends of democracy to Edo people.
In his executive summary of the event which featured questions and answers from participants in Diaspora and across the nation, Chairman, Planning Committee, Dr. Ikpenmosa Uhumuavbi said the fundamental goal of the Godwin Obaseki led administration’s drive to transforming the civil service system was chronicled by both speakers and critical to this assignment is the maintenance and enhancement of democratic processes in the state civil service within the context of opportunities and challenges that the information society brings