New projects under way to improve the ICT sector

By Priscilla Muhairwe

Leonah Mborimpa the Corporate communication Officer of NITA says “ National Information Technology Authority,[NITA] is partnering with Uganda Communication Commission and International Telecommunication Union on another project still in the pipeline to enable the effectiveness of innovation in the country to be called UG- CERT [Uganda- Computer Emergency Response Team], which is to ensure the protection of the Nation’s critical information infrastructure.”

She further notes, “The National Back bone Infrastructure is a project that the government of Uganda and National Information Technology Authority came up with that is related to the innovations.

This connects all government departments and ministries in different towns onto one government source that is the Internet using the same fiber optic cable.

This networking or connection, will help increase transparency within the government and strengthen good governance, the government is able to provide accountability for everything that it does because all this is shown on the website, there is accessibility of government information for its citizens.  It also encourages participation of the private sector in the IT infrastructure.”

The same institution with the government created a Business Out sourcing Centre in 2011 to help reduce on unemployment in the country, they have an operator called Techno brain, these centers have been able to train over 3000 students to gain skills in outsourcing, where as some are employed in the different centers.

Leonah says “with outsourcing employment is easy because one computer can employ several people because they work in shifts.”