06 Nov 2023

Digitalisation of the public sector is critical for service delivery in a knowledge-based economy, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

In a State-Of-the-Nation Address speech he delivered yesterday, President Masisi said 170 online services had been developed and were being rolled out to the public in a phased approach.

He said the process commenced with onboarding of citizens by self-registration and walk-ins to selected government service centres. Also, he said an additional 130 services were targeted for completion by September 2024 and Batswana would be able to apply online for Omang, passports, social benefit grants, drivers’ licenses, livestock sales and motor vehicle clearance, application for firearms and vehicle registration, among others.

He added that 15 citizen youth owned companies had been contracted for the development of e-services at a total value of P60m in 2022 and P100m this year and had created high-tech jobs, adding that, yet another P100m was expected next year.

“I am pleased that the micro-enterprises in the informal sector are now able to participate more efficiently and productively using the digital platforms,” he said.

The President further said government’s commitment to digitalisation had, to date, resulted in the implementation of citizen-centric digital services, creating a seamless experience for consumers.

“These are mostly offered by the private sector,” he said.

He said the efficacy from ICT would manifest in, among others, E-Health Strategy (2020–2024), which aimed to transform the health sector to be patient-centric through an electronic medical records system, which had been piloted in 10 clinics with a view to rolling it out by March next year, as well as an online portal called Tsogojwame for health promotion, which was developed by the Botswana Institute for Technology, Research and Innovation.

Again, he said the efficacy would manifest in e-education, which entailed provision of ICT devices to every teacher and learner at primary, junior and senior secondary school levels and would be rolled out to tertiary institutions by the end of the current financial year. In addition, he said delivery of mobile ICT laboratories would be rolled out to all primary schools from next financial year.

He added that the development of Education Management Information System, with eight modules, to be delivered in phases for online teaching and learning, was expected to be operational by mid-next year. “The remaining modules, which are expected to facilitate interface between parents, schools and education authorities will be developed during the 2024/25 financial year,” he added.

He indicated that the E-mobility programme was currently ongoing and its main focus was on training of technicians to give them proficiency for attending to the mechanical, electrical and technical requirements of the E-vehicle.

“So far, a total of 60 technicians have been trained and this will ensure that Botswana is properly positioned to assemble electric vehicles including electric boats,” he said.

Moreover, he said E-commerce technologies provided opportunities in areas such as indigenous foods, herbs and cosmetics, basketry, systems and software development.

“The development and greater uptake of some of the technologies will assist the nation to penetrate the global market,” he said.

The President said the recently launched SmartBots Village Connectivity project would fast-track digital access to Batswana and also promote and nurture democracy and good governance.

He added that since 2021, a total of 1 138 public facilities in 144 villages had been connected to high speed free internet.

The project, he said, covered dikgotla, health facilities, schools and other essential government facilities, adding that there were over 500 000 people connected to the system as of last week.

On other issues, President Masisi said government had established the Botswana Education and Research Network (BoTSREN) that allowed for access to technical and educational resources for research and innovation within Botswana and around the world.

“As a result, government established links with Ubuntunet alliance that interconnects national research networks within the region,” he said.

He added that in the past five years, Botswana had made significant progress in innovation as evidenced by the 2023 World Intellectual Property Organisation’s ranking, which placed the country at position 85 out of 132 countries, compared to a 106^th in 2021.

“The current ranking translated to third place in Africa and to drive innovation, Botswana has prioritised the registration and ownership of patents by Batswana,” he said. Ends