By NewsWatch Staff Writer
The National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC) has propelled its municipal digitalization training programme by schooling local council officials in the East region on how to digitalise their daily operations and work processes.
Between 27 and 29 March 2024, the agency organized a capacity building workshop in Bertoua for mayors and IT administrators of councils under the theme: “Local development in the era of digital transformation.”
For three days, the municipal authorities were equipped with innovative skills that would enable them to exploit the power of ICT to transform the accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of municipal council services.
The Governor of the East region, Gregoire Mvongo, who chaired the opening ceremony of the workshop, lauded the initiative. He said the training will offer local elected officials of the region and their collaborators the opportunity to strengthen their digital skills necessary to effectively exploit the potential of the digital transformation of decentralized territorial collectivities, using ICT for the benefit of the population.
“We are now living in the age of digital transformation where ICTs are an essential tool for this change. Administrations and institutions are in fact obliged to dematerialize the procedures of the services they provide to the public to keep up with the times and ensure their sustainability. This transformation is becoming unavoidable to the point where a man or an organization that does not appropriate these tools today would contribute to its own extinction,” Mvongo said.
Drivers of good governance
The Bertoua workshop is the fifth in a series and represents ANTIC’s contribution to government’s decentralization efforts – empowering local authorities to initiate and implement projects and programmes that effectively respond to local community needs. It comes after that of Bafoussam for the West region in 2020; Ebolowa for the South region in 2021; Limbe for the South West region in 2022; and Ngaoundere for the Adamawa region in 2023.
Prof. Ebot Ebot Enaw, Director General of ANTIC, said: “Indeed, as enablers of the transparent management of resources and drivers of good governance and job creation, ICTs can help our councils significantly improve the living conditions of citizens in their municipalities.”
During the training, ANTIC experts provided municipalities with access to information systems guidelines that align with relevant international best practices and norms.
Also, the trainees gained knowledge on the digitalization of the civil status register as well as the procurement procedures for ICT projects.
Moreover, ANTIC made available its expertise to help municipalities build secured information systems, seek funding for ICT projects, and draw up an IT master plan for municipal councils.
Initiative already bearing fruits
Based on research in two of the 10 regions in 2020 and 2021, ANTIC found that the ICT penetration is below 14% and the agency has been keen to address this through the trainings.
The collaboration between ANTIC and municipal councils, Enaw said, has already produced palpable results in some municipalities where the training has taken place. He cited the development of an IT Master Plan for the Baffoussam City Council, the development of an IT Master Plan for the East Regional Council and support for the maturation of ICT projects of the Ebolowa City Council and the Lokoundje Municipal Council as some of the “outstanding projects” realized thanks to this initiative.
Officials said 127 councils, representing 35% of the total number of councils in the country, have been trained by ANTIC on the integration of ICTs into local governance as well as accompanied in the development of their ICT projects as of date.
In the East region, the online presence of municipal councils is still in its nascent stage. Of the 36 municipal councils in the region, only seven – representing nineteen percent (19%) have a website; with 25 of them in possession of a Facebook page, according to ANTIC. Though the number of councils with a social media page may appear impressive, the ANTIC notes that none of the pages is verified, thereby exposing the councils to identity theft.
“The skills you shall acquire in the course of this seminar would help you to reverse this trend and tap from the enormous benefits offered by online platforms,” ANTIC Director General told workshop participants.
ANTIC is piloting the initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development (MINDDEVEL), the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (FEICOM), National Civil Status Registration Office (BUNEC), Public Contracts Regulatory Agency (ARMP) and the National Participatory Development Program (PNDP).
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 172 of Monday, April 8, 2024.
