Pre-Investment Study for the Lesotho E-Government Infrastructure Project is completed.
Contracted by Lesotho Government with the support of African Development Bank, consultants from Norway Registers Development AS have reviewed and analysed existing e-Government facilities, ICT market, regulatory environment, customer/citizen requirements, and provided a detailed plan required to develop the National backbone ICT infrastructure and facilitate development of e-government services in Lesotho.
“The goal of the Lesotho e-Government Infrastructure project is the enhancement of good governance in the country. With assistance from NRD, we have prepared a highly practical and detailed plan that will ensure that the projected e-government broadband infrastructure will be modern, secure and widely accessible. In the light of Lesotho’s Vision 2020, we hope that improved infrastructure will benefit and create new opportunities for all citizens and businesses in Lesotho, lay the foundations for other ICT-based services development and help to bridge the digital divide in the country”, commented Mr. Khiba Masiu, Project Coordinator.
Seeking to ensure universal access to the Government services, Government E-Portal platform will be developed and 4 service centres will be built in rural areas dedicated for the delivery of delegated government services and self-services for the rural businesses and citizens of Lesotho in one place.
Cybersecurity layer was also introduced in order to ensure cybersecurity resilience. According to Managing Director of Norway Registers Development AS Mr Rimantas Zylius, “When country embraces digitization of services and processes, protection of infrastructure and data from cyber attacks becomes ever more important. Therefore, we have suggested establishing a cybersecurity incident response team – CIRT/SOC to ensure coordinated response to all current and future cybersecurity threats”.
Finally, around 1000 people will be trained under the capacity building programme, including senior officials, ICT professionals and students.
“The Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology understands that capacity building is the prerequisite to reduce country’s dependability on foreign consultants and ensure sustainable development. Therefore, knowledge transfer was strongly emphasised to increase the skills of Lesotho government officials and society in the established eGovernment Infrastructure operation. We are very satisfied that in this capacity building program innovative methods of knowledge transfer will be used, specifically oriented to practical skills development and hands-on trainings”, commented Mr. Puso Moetsana, Head of Information Services and Training.
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Norway Registers Development AS (NRD AS) is management consulting and IT services’ company, specializing in the development of national registers, e-governance solutions and public sector reforms backed by ICT solutions. NRD was established in Norway in 1995 and is a part of INVL Technology (Nasdaq Vilnius: INC1L) portfolio since 2011. NRD implements projects in more than 50 countries worldwide and supports business development of other INVL Technology portfolio companies in frontier markets.
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 focus to 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.