Uganda's government ministries go online
The Uganda government ministries and departments are now connected to each other and teleconferencing between them is possible.
According to a statement issued by the information communication technology ministry, the network is being refined and will be officially launched in Kampala soon.
The statement went on to say that the network is part of the national backbone infrastructure project whose construction has so far covered the city of Kampala, towns of Entebbe and Jinja town that is located in Eastern Uganda.
The system works with multiple users and through the network users can hold discussions with other ministries, or departments can communicate with each official without leaving the office. Officials can also make Powerpoint presentations on screen and others can give their response to the presentation through the click of a button.
On his part the ICT Minister Dr. Ham Mukasa Mulira attributed the success of the project to the government's structured approach to the implementation of information communication technology in the country.
"ICT implementation has got three phases that include establishment of the infrastructure, use of applications and then the users. As we were infusing ICT's, we also started on the infrastructure such that as government liberalized the sector many investors were attracted but at the same time it established the national backbone," he said.
Following the liberalisation of the sector, Uganda's telecommunications industry grew steadily and led to the introduction of wireless networks that include the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), WIFI among others and the ultimate being the Blackberry.
He said the first phase of the infrastructure has been completed with E-government that is going to be established throughout the country.
"In the next phase we are planning to connect health centres where an expert surgeon for example who is in the northern town of Lira can guide an operation in a Kampala hospital using the same system," he said.
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