The Department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has released a draft Digital Government Plan 2023-2027 for consultation.
Department Secretary, Steven Matainaho, in a statement yesterday, 28th July informed all public bodies, stakeholders, and the general public of the release of the draft Digital Government Plan 2023-2027.
The draft Plan proposes to operationalize the key Government policy objectives as outlined in the:
- ICT Sector Roadmap 2018;
- PNG Digital Transformation Policy 2020;
- Digital Government Act 2022
It is a proposed digital sector plan, which ambitiously aspires to fully digitize and automate all government systems and processes while extending penetration of telecommunication coverage to reach a population coverage of 90 percent by 2027.
The plan proposes to digitize all of public service and make services:
- fast, simple and clear for the people;
- transparent and efficient by government;
- increase government revenue generation through the uptake of SME and foreign direct investments and;
- grow the digital economy
The Secretary states, “The draft Plan recognizes the absence of appropriate ICT policy interventions within the Development Strategic Plan 2030 and therefore positions itself as a strategic delivery plan for the anticipated Medium Term Revenue Strategy 2023 - 2027 and to complement the delivery of the Medium-Term Development Plan 2023 - 2027.
“To achieve this, the draft Plan calls for the establishment of a ‘Digital Sector’ within the Medium-Term Development Plan and consequentially for all siloed ICT projects to be consolidated under the Digital Sector for an effective coordinated whole-of-government delivery.”
The current ICT investments under the 2021 National Budget (Development Budget) is K283 million.
The Office of the Secretary states, “It is also important to note that in the last 10 years, K780 million has been allocated across the National Statistics Office, the National Identity Project, and the PNG Electoral Commission combined for data collection and biometric identity related activities.”
The draft Digital Government Plan 2023- 2027 calls for a coordinated effort in deployment of ONE biometric or digital technology for all agencies to use for identity service-related purposes including for e-Voting rollout.
Section 10 and 11 of the Digital Government Act 2022 requires me as departmental head of the Department responsible for ICT to formulate a Digital Government Plan and for the Public Service ICT Steering Committee to review the Plan before finalizing it.
“Before submitting the draft Plan to the Public Service ICT Steering Committee for consideration, I now distribute it to all public bodies, stakeholders, and the general public for consultation.
“Please access the (1) Draft Digital Government Plan 2023-2027, (2) Summary and Call for Feedback Paper, and the (3) Digital Government Act 2022 at www.ict.gov.pg and we hope that we can receive feedback from our stakeholders,” Matainaho said.
Consultation ends on 10th August 2022.