The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The prime minister believes The Bahamas can follow Estonia’s lead by using technology to transform government services and attract international investment.

Dr Hubert Minnis met the Baltic republic’s president, Kersti Kaljulaid, during this week’s Caribbean heads of government (CARICOM) meeting in Jamaica.

“The world is moving in the direction of digital transformation, and if The Bahamas fails to prepare or keep up with advances it will be left behind; relegated not to a third world country but a fourth world country,” the prime minister said.

Estonia is considered a world leader in e-government and digital innovation, and has become a model for many countries seeking to update and improve their own public services.

Transforming government services through the modernisation and digitisation of the public sector is a key priority for the Minnis administration, and is being monitored and supported by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.

A Modernisation Unit has been established in the Office of the Prime Minister, and senior government officials took part in e-governance training at Estonia’s e-Governance Academy in October 2018, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Earlier this year, representatives from the e-Governance Academy visited The Bahamas to hold meetings with private and public stakeholders who will be involved in transforming government services.

While all ministries have made some progress, the goal is to streamline government procedures and services by making them available online; increase the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the public sector and by the government; increase government transparency; and strengthen auditing and control mechanisms.