Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 12, 2019 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is aggressively pursuing the expansion of e-services within the public sector to provide a modern approach to doing business and accessing services.
Aspects of a digital strategy were highlighted by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris on Thursday, December 12, 2019, as he introduced The Appropriation (2020) Bill, 2019 in the Federal Parliament. The Bill is more popularly known as the Budget and provides for the services of Saint Christopher and Nevis for the financial year January 01, 2020, to December 31, 2020.
The digital strategy is expected to make a positive difference by increasing efficiency within the public service thereby facilitating the growth of a digital economy. In a digital economy, focus is placed on using digital technologies to undertake economic activity.
“The digital economy will present opportunities, especially for our young people, to improve education, healthcare, social services, and the delivery of almost all government services,” Prime Minister Harris stated.
The government is receiving technical assistance from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) in developing a broadband strategy to drive the use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) in the education curriculum and ensure greater use of e-government services such as e-licensing, e-payments, digital crime management and traffic management systems.
“A key component of our digital transformation is technological innovation. This will provide an avenue for building efficiencies in business operations, expanding entrepreneurship, job creation and wealth generation,” the prime minister stated. “My government stands ready to partner with the private sector and civil society to ensure that we continue to make giant strides to move our country towards the development of our digital economy.”
Additional details will be shared by Honourable Vincent Byron Jr., the minister responsible for ICT, when he makes his contribution to the debate on The Appropriation (2020) Bill, 2019. Parliament resumes tomorrow, Friday, December 13.
