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In the recently proposed bills aimed at rationalizing and merging agencies to reduce duplication and redundancy in mandates, Parliament has voiced strong support for preserving NITA-U. Established as an autonomous statutory body under the National Information Technology Authority, Uganda Act 2009, NITA-U plays a pivotal role in coordinating and regulating Information Technology services in Uganda, as emphasized unanimously by Parliament. Recognizing its critical functions and contributions to the economy, Parliament’s decision comes at a time when the government is actively promoting digitization, enabling over 1,480 ministries, agencies, and local government offices to benefit from electronic services like integrated management systems, e-tax, and e-passports, thus streamlining service delivery to Ugandans.
The report highlights the significant cost savings delivered by NITA-U to the government through various services:
– Centralized hosting of critical applications has resulted in savings of UGX 1.165 trillion.
– Managing the National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) network, spanning over 4,172 km and connecting over 1,480 MDAs (e-government services), has reduced duplication and promoted shared services.
– The establishment of the National Data Centre and Disaster Recovery (DR) sites has led to savings of up to USD 92 million by hosting 287 critical applications for over 100 Government Institutions, consolidating the storage and management of Government data.
– Providing internet bandwidth has yielded savings of up to UGX 49 billion by reducing internet costs from USD 70 to USD 35 per megabyte per second (MBPS), with further projected reductions to USD 20 per Mbps. This totals to a significant saving of UGX 1.248 trillion.