About the client

Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology

Challenge

The Government of Lesotho in May 2014 embarked on the implementation of the Lesotho e-Government Infrastructure project which aims at the enhancement of good governance by the deployment of a modern and secure e-government broadband infrastructure.

This project focused on one of the most important areas following Lesotho’s Vision 2020 and the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), in which Lesotho pursues to become a country with a well-established technology. In this regard, Lesotho is faced with the challenges to move towards a technology competent country through, among others, increased budget allocation towards science and technology development, forging partnerships with other countries, strengthening science and technology education, as well as promoting science and technology research, innovation and development.

The project focused on the utilization of ICT on governance frameworks that underpin the effectiveness of public sector institutions.

Solution

Key components of the project were:

• Strengthening of government controlled fibre network infrastructure which requires optimizing existing metropolitan fibre network linking ministries and the data centres, improving bandwidth access to submarine cable systems for e-Government services, extending ICT coverage to four selected rural areas under Universal Access Program;
• Strengthening of existing data centres which will include equipment and software upgrades, as well as improvement in the operations of the data centre;
• Improvement of a Government portal providing access to government services for the benefit of all citizens;
• Skills development program to and support access to government services.

Services provided

• Review of Lesotho development context, economic environment and existing technologies in order to propose strategic alternatives for the upgrading of the government fibre network connecting ministries and data centres; strengthening of data centres; development of the national e-government portal; construction of one stop shops for the e-government services delivery; renovation of training facilities and supplies, as well as skills development survey and outlining the capacity building program needs.
• Detailed project design and specifications development of the entire upgraded core government network infrastructure; security requirements; construction and turn-key establishment of the third tier data centre, development of the national e-government portal connecting all ministries; architecture, engineering and interior designs for renovations of several training, call centre facilities; specification of interior and ICT infrastructure supplies for call centre, video conference facilities, training labs; detailed design and specification of the capacity building programs for ICT professionals, ICT students, Project Management Unit staff and awareness program for senior government officials. Specification and design had to ensure that the upgrading of the key project components are accomplished in a financially sustainable manner and following best industry standards.
• Bid document preparation, including Request for Proposals and draft contracts for the downstream consultancy services, goods and works as per the project procurement plan. Public procurement consultancy delivered as a part of the pre-investment study required refining of the project budget and procurement plans.