Tunisia govt launches Govtech project
The departments of Communication Technologies, Education, Civil Service and Social Affairs, together with World Bank representatives launched the Govtech digital transformation project for citizen-oriented public services recently. The World Bank is providing financing to the tune of USD100 million towards the project.
Communication Technologies minister Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem announced that digitalisation is a catalyst for human, social and economic development, stating,“The Govtech programme brings together several projects aimed at bringing public services closer to the citizen through the establishment of digital service providers, facilitating the management of social welfare services through the setting up of dedicated digital platforms and the necessary infrastructure to promote remote education.”
“This project, which will also help narrow the digital divide between regions and the social and economic divide, will be implemented gradually during the period 2020-2024,” the minister added, indicating that working meetings will be held between all the stakeholders to set the order of priorities within the framework of this project., according to a report by Agence Tunis-Afrique Presse.
With this new system in place, the aim is to ensure that low-income social groups, women in rural areas, illiterate people, people with disabilities, among others have access to important services, and allows for better feedback from users in order to increase government accountability.
The project will fund improvements in four key areas: social assistance programmes such as cash transfers or allowances to improve access for vulnerable groups; social security to expand pension and health insurance coverage; digitisation of education management services to facilitate enrolment, monitoring of pupils and schools, and detection of drop-outs; and finally, the improvement of digital resources to enhance teaching and learning.
The Ministry of Communication Technologies will oversee the implementation of this project.
