Government to roll out a suite of e-Government initiatives to increase efficiency and improve accountability within the Public Service.
This was confirmed by Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew Fahie during a recent press conference.
He said the E-Government will greatly enhance the services available online which will include e-billing, online payment and online bookings.
“It will bring convenience to everyone. Persons will not have to hop on a ferry and spend unnecessary time and money to travel to Tortola to access Government services. You will be able to sit in your home and conduct business with the Government – whether you are on Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke, Tortola, Salt Island or any of our beautiful islands, and anywhere in the world,” the Premier stated.
He added, “Through e-Government, we will dramatically increase efficiency of the service delivery because everything will be managed digitally. So, for instance, we will increase the efficiency of the services in Customs, Immigration, Labour, police and all Government Departments and Statutory Bodies.”
To improve accountability
Premier Fahie also spoke about the accountability measures which the e-government suite of initiatives will seek to provide.
He said, “And as we talk about these services, e-government will also provide a system for holding those Departments – and all our other service departments and units – accountable. Because we will be able to track the transactions by following the digital trail.”
“The digital trail will log when the application is submitted, when it was dealt with, who dealt with it, what was the outcome, and more. And it does not matter which government is in office, the system will be able to provide an accurate and permanent record of what happened, the Premier further stated.
Every step will be tracked
The leader of government business also explained that the e-government initiatives will incorporate features which will allow for the tracking of all interactions from beginning to end.
He said this will better assist with the management of the respective systems.
“Over the years, we have heard the familiar complaint from persons that they submitted applications for different types of services in Government – for example applications for police record, trade licenses, passports and work permits, to name a few – and it takes so long and too long to get these transactions processed and even to get and update,” he stated.
“Sometimes, as just stated, you cannot get an explanation or update because the paper file has to be located or only the specific officer dealing with the matter has the information. But, with e-Government, every step of the process can be tracked, and information can be accessed at the push of a button,” the premier continued.