Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie is excited about the transformation that is about to sweep through the public service.
Echoing the familiar lines of a pilot behind the controls, Cuffie yesterday declared: “We are now ready for take off.”
Delivering brief remarks during the presentation of instruments to the new board of the National ICT Company (iGovTT) at the National Library, Port-of-Spain, Cuffie said Information Communication Technology (ICT) was the major backbone of the process and the right elements were now in place.
iGovTT is an award-winning company whose primary business is the provision of ICT consulting and support services for Government and other agencies.
A brief history revealed the management of ICT matters within Government has been transitioned to several agencies throughout the years before coming to rest at iGovTT which was established in 2009 and facilitates greater networking among partners and promotes collaboration as its cornerstone.
Warning the new board, which is chaired by former education minister Esther Le Gendre, it would be facing a tremendous workload from the onset, Cuffie added that some of the matters would be “contentious.”
The other board members are Dr Sean Rocke, Jacqueline Morris, Deepak Maharaj, Vashti Maharaj and Anastacia Samuel.
Agreeing that ICT was critical to take T&T forward, Cuffie echoed the sentiments of the chairman of the Public Service Commission Maureen Manchouck as he admitted:
“We need to get an ICT solution for the recruitment and processing of information across the public service.”
Charging the incoming board with its chief mandate to take Government services online, Cuffie said one such initiative was the Wi-Fi on buses project.
Set to unveil the initiative in its entirety today at 9 am at City Gate, members of the public travelling on buses operated by the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) will be able to access free Wi-Fi while en-route to their destinations.
Revealing the new service would cost approximately $300,000 initially, Cuffie said that figure would eventually be brought down to $95,000.
Le Gendre told the board members she would be open to engage the previous board to find out what measures worked well in the past.