Mauritius e-Government Strategy 2013-2017

Definitions of Data:

Main Focus of Document:

The application of e-government for interactions within government and between government and businesses and citizens

Target Beneficiaries or Sectors:

Key Elements:

Mauritius' e-Government Strategy aims to increase the participation of citizens in decision making processes, make interactions with the authorities more convenient for citizens and businesses, and improve the transparency and accountability of government operations. To do so, the Strategy makes a series of recommendations, informed by needs surveys of citizens, businesses and government as well as research into trends in e-government around the world and its application in Mauritius. The recommendations are organised in three broad areas:

1. Government to citizen interactions

• Market and create awareness of the Government Portal and e-services;
• Set up a Help Desk to assist citizens facing problems in the use of the Government Portal, e-services and m-services;
• Implement new e-Services as per citizens' needs in order of priority;
• Design services that are usable on mobile devices as well as desktop and laptop computers;
• Implement a SMS-based Disaster Alerting System;
• Operate a One-Stop Shop for government services using the network of Mauritius Post;
• Set up a government call centre to provide information on government services;
• Provide e-services with e-payment and m-payment facilities;
• Promote the use of online transactions using Digital Signatures;
• Formulate and implement a Social Media Policy;
• Promote e-participation initiatives such as online consultation on draft bills, regulations;
• Democratise access to government information.

2. Government to government interactions

• Implement the recommendations of existing e-Government Master Plans in e-Health, e-Education, e-Agriculture, e-Work Permit, Social Security, Government Wide Area Network, and operations of the Traffic Branch;
• Implement new e-government projects as per Government agencies’ needs;
• Implement end-to-end e-services, integrated with back end processes;
• Formulate and implement a Data Sharing Policy;
• Set up a Government Service Platform and sharing of citizens’ data with government agencies;
• Prepare guidelines and standards for the procurement of ICT systems in government;
• Consolidate Government Cloud initiatives;
• Extend the Government Cloud to parastatal bodies;
• Implement Business Continuity Management Plans for critical systems;
• Formulate and implement an Open Source Software Policy to enable interoperation between open source applications and existing applications;
• Develop and implement Green ICT guidelines;
• Set up a legal and regulatory committee to review and update the existing Legal and Regulatory framework to sustain various e-Government initiatives in light of technological changes;
• Leverage ICT adoption by providing ICT training to drive e-government projects to be delivered by the Civil Service College, providing incentives, and procuring notebooks instead of personal computers for senior officers in ministries/departments;
• Carry out an in-depth study for the creation of an ICT directorate with new specialised posts in ICT for successful implementation of e-government initiatives;
• Extend the mandate of the Reforms Steering Council to facilitate approval and funding of e-government projects;
• Develop and establish an e-government measurement framework.

3. Government to business interaction

• Develop marketing and awareness strategies for the Government Portal and e-services targeting businesses;
• Formulate and implement an Open Government Data Policy to make available public datasets for businesses;
• Integrate e-payment and m-payment facilities in existing e-government applications;
• Promote the Card Validation Service and fingerprint readers by businesses to validate the identity of citizens;
• Implement measures to make digital certificates affordable;
• Assess the current state and re-engineer e-Services to a highly transactional mode;
• Promote the use of online building and land permits with an e-payment facility;
• Accelerate the implementation of the e-Work Permit Plan;
• Assess the effectiveness of the Labour Market Information System and chart the way forward to further improve the system;
• Implement online submission of company data to Statistics Mauritius;
• Implement e-Procurement so as to enable sustainable procurement in government;
• Implement a Single Window for trade facilitation;
• Promote the use of online filing of commercial court cases;
• Implement online filing of objections to the Assessment Review Committee for tax issues.