Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Minister of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, said that both islands of St. Kitts and Nevis will benefit from the digital transformation efforts of the government because it is a federal undertaking.
Minister Byron-Nisbett was at the time speaking at the Prime Minister’s Press Conference held on January 14 at the NEMA Conference Room.
“Just this morning, the Prime Minister would have spoken to the restructuring that is taking place at it relates to the Federal Office in Nevis,” she said. “There are services at the federal level that will be offered through that office as well as are other engagements that will take place there that would require access to the information at the federal level.”
Minister Byron-Nisbett said this means that whatever is done on St. Kitts must be replicated in Nevis in order to ensure a smooth transition of information and that that information is shared across both islands. It will also ensure that anyone accessing the information or services in Nevis are given the same type of services that is in St. Kitts.
The ICT Minister stated that the government has begun the first phase of its transformation efforts, which includes the whole of government strategy and the cybersecurity strategy.
“Just last week, we began the different interviews and meetings with the various ministries and departments across government to get an idea of where the different ministries are in terms of their transformation efforts and their IT so that we can get a better understanding of where we are going,” she said.
She added that the government has also reached out to the different departments and ministries in Nevis that offer some level of federal services. They are still waiting on confirmation on when we can have interviews with them, she said.
Minister Byron-Nisbett said that the meetings and interviews have been going well so far.
“We’ve touched on just about a good cross-section of ministries including the Ministries of Health, Information and Communication Technologies, and now the Inland Revenue Department and Ministry of Finance as well,” she said. “So the interviews are ongoing.”
The Cable is assisting the government in the roll-out of its Government Wide Area Network, she said.
“This means the fibre runs necessary to connect all of our ministries and departments together—that infrastructure is necessary in order for us to be able to roll out the necessary services, platforms and applications that would sit on that network to provide the digital services that are required,” she said.
Minister Byron-Nisbett noted that in recent discussions with The Cable, they have been trying to determine the best route to run the fibre lines between St. Kitts and Nevis.
As part of its digital transformation efforts, the government will also roll out Wi-Fi to all community centres as early as next week. This is also in collaboration with The Cable.
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