FED GOVT LAUNCHES ONLINE PORTAL

Determined
to enthrone transparency and make governance more effective, the Federal
Government yesterday launched a government services portal www.services.gov.ng
as part of the initiatives for ‘’getting government online.’’

Minister
of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, who launched the portal in
Abuja, said it was in line with the mandate to deploy ICT to drive transparency
in governance and improve the quality of public service delivery.

In a
statement, the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister, Mrs Efem Nkanga,
quoted Mrs Johnson as saying the benefits of the portal are many, adding that
the portal can be assessed in English, French and Spanish.

She
added that it is one of the flagship projects of the Ministry aimed at enabling
Nigerians to access government services.

She
said the project is in line with the outcome of the survey which the United
Nations carried out on Innovative E-Government Practices among nations, adding
that the result of the survey showed that citizen service delivery is topmost
on the government innovative technology adoption, all over the world.

Thus,
governments’ use of the Internet to deliver government services has
revolutionised the speed and effectiveness of government service delivery and
public administration across the world, she said.

Mrs
Johnson emphasised that governments recognise that e-government offers, not
just a new technology, but also a mechanism of transforming the way the
government operates.

She
gave examples of nations that have taken this route of creating government
service portal to include the United States, Britain, Canada, India, Singapore,
South Africa and Kenya.