Support to ICT policy, strategy and implementation plan for Trade, Tourism and Industry - Uganda

As a direct result of the Information Flow Management Flow and Networking (IFMN) project, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Trade, Tourism and Industry (MTTI) asked IICD in June 2005 to collaborate on developing an ICT policy and implementation strategy for this broad sector and to help harmonise ICT projects within the sectors Trade, Tourism and Industry.

This project (see http://allafrica.com/stories/200610231227.html and http://www.iicd.org/projects/articles/iicdprojects.2005-12-09.2164038218) headed by a Task Force, which was set up in August 2005 consisting of staff members of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry (MTTI) and its 12 affiliated organisations, initiated the development of an ICT policy and an implementation strategy for the sectors Tourism, Trade and Industry in Uganda. In addition, other stakeholders in the government, non-governmental organisations, private sector and up-country organisations provided input through various participatory workshops.

In November, 2000 The Ministry of Trade Tourism and Industry (MTTI) and IICD organized an ICT round table in Jinja – Uganda, where all stakeholders agreed to the fact that the poor information flow within the sector was a hindrance to its development and indeed may have a negative effect upon the alleviation of poverty which is one of the most important objectives of the Ministry.

The roundtable agreed therefore that a project, among the many identified, be formulated and implemented to address this weakness as one of the ways to stimulate development in the sector. The Information Flow Management and Networking (IFMN) project was formulated to improve information flow within the Ministry departments (Tourism, Wildlife, Trade, Cooperatives, Industry and Technology) and between the ministry and its affiliated institutions.

Information management and information technology (IM/IT) are critical to supporting the business needs of a ministry and the development of electronic service delivery and administration. The development of an Information Resource Management Plan (IRMP) will help the ministry to align its IM and IT investments with program objectives and to provide improved services to the public.

Read more about IICD’s Uganda Country Programme.

Both policy and implementation strategy have been finalised in September 2006 after amongst others a Round Table type workshop in December 2005. Currently 2 out of the 6 programmes of the implementation strategy (capacity development centre for the sector and an Intranet for the complete sector building on the IFMN project) are in implementation while the Ministry is liaising with development partners to seek funding for the remaining 4 programmes. Especially the Trade and Tourism portal concepts attracted the attention of several development partners.

• To streamline the several ICT initiatives in the Ministry and its affiliated organizations in order to enable the Ministry to make full use of ICTs to implement its mission, vision, strategy and objectives.

• To set  priorities based on the mission, vision, strategy and objectives of the Ministry.

• To prepare implementation planning

The policy project at MTTI led to the formulation of guidelines for the use of IT at the Ministry, as well as the creation of an IT forum overseeing all matters of ICT at MTTI. 

Read more about IICD’s approach towards governance.

Many initiatives have emerged from the roundtable.

The implementation was facilitated by the Permanent Secretary, an ICT champion - which means when he left, a rather large vacuum was created.

Working with large line ministries that have many affiliated institutions has challenges, as coordination as well as accountability can prove difficult.

The project is owned by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry (MTTI) and therefore the organisation of the project is embedded in the organisational structure of the Ministry. The ICT Advisory Committee (ICTAC) is the committee that is ultimate responsible for the project, which is chaired by the Permanent Secretary and will include the Project Manager as its Secretary. The committee will also include appropriate representation from all the ministry departments and will ensure that departmental ICT requirements and concerns are well represented.