By Ndi Eugene Ndi
The Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, (MINFOPRA) has taken giant steps to digitalise all its services after the signing of a convention with the Cameroon Telecommunications, (CAMTEL) in Yaounde on Monday June 13.
According to the terms of the highly applauded deal , the incumbent telecom operator will provide its various digital services to Public Service Ministry among them strong, stable and secured internet connection, high speed inter connection through radio link or dedicated optical fibre, a data security solution as well as access to services offered by CAMTEL’s Data Centre in Zamangoe in the Center region.
Speaking to reporters after signing the convention on behalf of his ministry, Joseph Le, Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms said the agreement is an important step in the modernization of the public service.
“We are modernizing, digitizing and safeguarding our administration,” Joseph Le said adding this could only be possible thanks to appropriate infrastructure which CAMTEL possesses. “When we do these, we need a solid infrastructure where we can keep and protect all these data”, he continue saying CAMTEL’s data Center in Zamangoe in the Center region is the perfect infrastructure for such.
CAMTEL’s General Manager, Judith Yah Sunday who inked the deal on behalf of the state-owned telco said the formal agreement is of great importance not only to the company but the entire administration of our republic.
“Government has invested a lot of resources in building the data centre [in Zamangoe] as well as others telecommunication infrastructures. So as the main and sole operator of telecommunications, it was important that we start the process with the Ministry of Public Service and secure public service data,” the CAMTEL boss explained.
The signing of the convention on Monday comes after a guided tour of the Zamangoe Data Center by the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms in May last year in view of the deployment of the new Computer System for the Integrated Management of State Personnel and Payroll (SIGIPES II).
“When I visited the Data Center last year, I immediately knew it was the solution that we have been looking for you can store data there and go home and rest confidently” Joseph Le said.
To the CAMTEL GM, the formal agreement with the Ministry of Public Service is just the first, and she hopes “other administrations will follow and definitely bring their data and store at our Data Center which is secured, the biggest and most robust in Central Africa”.
Among the personalities present during Monday’s event at the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms were the Secretary General in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, (MINPOSTEL) who represented Minister Libom Li Likeng, the Director General of the Advanced School of Administration and Magistracy, (ENAM) and the Director General of the Higher Institute of Public Management, (ISMP).
The digitalization by CAMTEL of public service data falls in line with president Paul Biya’s drive for the development of the digital economy in Cameroon.
