The government of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance this week on Wednesday, 18th.01.2023 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICDL Africa. The long-awaited event took place at Golden Tulips hotel in Kampala. The glorious event was highly attended by top government officials that included the Minister of State in charge of ICT and National Guidance Hon, Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo and the Permanent Secretary (MOICT &NG), Dr. Aminah Zawedde. On behalf of ICDL, in attendance was, the ICDL Africa General Manager, Solange Umulisa, the Regional Manager, Peter Maina, Michael Niyitegeka, the ICDL Africa – (ug)country manager and the Market Development Executive, Dan Muhenda.
During the signing ceremony, that was largely covered by the leading media agents in the country, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Aminah Zawedde emphasized the importance of the agreed upon partnership with ICDL and clarified how it was one of the greatest decisions made by the government of Uganda that will oversee a tremendous digital transformation.
“This is a significant milestone for the Ministry of ICT & NG guidance in our quest to ensure that government employees and the citizens have the requisite skills to support and use the E-Government initiatives. I commit to provide necessary support that will ensure this MoU is a success” Dr. Aminah Zawedde; Permanent Secretary MoICT & NG.
While speaking to the press about the significance of the event, Solange Umulisa, the ICDL General manager echoed her support and commitment of her team in ensuring the effective implementation of the agreed upon objectives.
“I am excited about this milestone, and to be adding Uganda to the lists of governments that we are directly partnering with to promote digital skills within government and the citizens. As ICDL Africa we are committed to enabling as many people as possible acquire 21st century digital skills. We commit our total support to this MoU. We look forward to celebrating the successes of this MoU.” Solange Umulisa; General Manager, ICDL Africa.
The signed Memorandum of Understanding with ICDL Africa to among others do the following;
a) Establishing digital skills standards for the workforce in Uganda
b) Enhancing digital skills training delivery across the different structures in our education system
c) Promoting the re-skilling and upskilling of government workforce to acquire appropriate digital skills to support eGovernment service delivery.
d) Support the realization of the Digital Uganda Vision This MoU will be implemented in five years through a collaborative effort. This is part of the wider government engagement with key partners that are geared towards enhancing government’s ability to deliver E-Services to the citizens of Uganda as envisioned in the Digital Uganda Vision.
In order to get kickstart this MoU, ICDL Africa has committed to supporting the government of Uganda to undertake digital skills assessment across government to ascertain the level of
digital skills gap. This will be undertaken within a period six months. The report will inform, digital skills agenda for the government. The Ministry together with other government MDAs provide appropriate support to this cause.
Way forward of MOU signing
On Thursday 19th.01.2023, the ICDL team led by Solange Umulisa, and the Permanent Secretary MOICT&NG, Dr. Aminah Zawedde; again, met with the selected key team heads from the Ministry of ICT and UICT to agree on the execution road map especially for the key highlights in the MOU. Among the key lights include the preparation and delivery of the assessment to the entire public service of Uganda.
The ICDL Compass was presented by Peter Maina, ICDL regional manager as the right tool to be used in the assessment process so as to discover the missing digital gaps and inform the government on training. The Parment Secretary clarified that the Government is looking at a minimum of 1,000 civil servants to go through the process of ICDL Compass assessment. The forecast for training later after the assessment is at 3000 civil servants for the start. The assessments of the civil servants have been projected to start by the 20th.03.2023.
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