New body to oversee Kenya’s ICT sector
GOVERNMENT
By BiztechAfrica – Aug. 21, 2013, 12:08 p.m.
By Semaj Itosno, Nairobi, Kenya
The newly created Information Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) will oversee Kenya’s ICT sector.
The new body follows consolidation of three entities: ICT Board of Kenya, the e-Government Directorate and the Government Information and Technology Services (GITS) which were charged with various roles in the ICT industry.
According to Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, the new body, established via a notice signed by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, shall boost efficiency in the industry.
“The gazette notice to fully establish the ICT Authority having been signed by the President, ICTA is now a reality and this brings together all of which was formerly the Directorate of e-government, Government IT Services (or GITS) and the Kenya ICT Board.”
Dr Matiang’i said the government shall form the ICTA’s board by end of August 2013.
“We have embarked on the immediate steps of institutionalizing ICTA including putting up a board for the same – which I hope we will do by end of the month (August) and identifying the men and women who will help manage the Authority in its first transitional and formation days,” said Dr Matiang’i.
All staff of the former ICT Board, GITS and e-Government Directorate, Mr Matiang’i said, are now under ICTA and the President shall appoint ICTA chair while the ICT ministry will be in charge of appointing board members.
The Kenya ICT Board’s main mandate was to position and promote Kenya as an ICT destination while the GITS, a body under the Treasury, was tasked with developing and implementing an appropriate ICT policy for the public sector and advising the government on matters related to ICT.
The body offered technical advice on the procurement of ICT equipment and provided the necessary ICT interface between the public sector and stakeholders.
On the other hand, the Directorate of e-Government’s overall mandate was to design, implement and sustain an integrated e-Government infrastructure and services.
Now the Information Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) shall undertake all these roles.
