The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Department of Transformation and Digitisation, which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, has launched its new ICT self-service portal as a part of its efforts to enhance efficiency in the delivery of government services.

The centralised system enables civil servants to request certain services such as technical support electronically.

During a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, Wayde Watson, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, hailed the system’s launch as “innovative” and said it demonstrated the government’s commitment to implementing technology-based solutions.

He also revealed the benefits associated with the online portal.

“Civil servants are now able to request the following services by the centralised portal by visiting ictselfservice.gov.bs,” he said.

“You can now request the following services. You can request for an email, a change in password; request for ICT equipment or hardware; requests for technical support with conference set up, requests for technical support issues related to the website, internet, software and application solutions; new network requests, request for the business analysts or project manager as it relates to agency ICT projects.

“This solution also gives you the ability to request for training, specific training or otherwise training related to Microsoft, training (for) all issues related to data centre issues or other issues.

“Additionally, civil servants can also send a special request to the ICT director directly at her desk,” Mr Watson added.

He said officials expect that the online portal will be the central point to facilitate requests to the ministry’s digitisation department.

“In the past, it used to be submitted manually or via email but today we are launching the self-service centralised portal,” the Bain and Grant’s Town MP said.

“The implementation of this solution represents this government’s commitment not only to the advancement of technology and government agencies, but also to the provision of technical support and management in accordance with international information technology service management protocols and standards.

“We must remember that the technology is a tool used for the efficient and effective execution of government services, whether at ones desk or virtually. Therefore, it is (important) that the technology is functioning at 100 percent capacity and when it doesn’t, users require assistance and support.

“This solution is geared towards enhancing and improving the level of support - to ensure the technology works and remains working. To this end, your requests, once received, will be routed to the appropriate technical support officer and tracked so that the unnecessary delays and confusion will not occur.”

He said civil servants can also track the status of “his or her matter” and urged them to visit ictselfservice. gov.bs.

Mr Watson said plans are also underway to launch the “digital police character certificate” soon and other similar initiatives.

“We have a holistic approach of what we want to launch...and it’s really and truly geared towards the ease of doing business here nationally,” he added.