Report from the Field: Two e-gov Projects in Rwanda The PRSC II and the PSCB Arleen Cannata Seed Camp Kigali 27 April 2005

Background Small, land-locked country in Central Africa (pop. 9M, GNI per capita only $230) Agriculture-based economy Very high poverty index (LE = 40 yrs) No natural resources Very low internet penetration

Rwanda’s Goals Vision 2020 to become a middle-income country in 20 yrs (15 left) Create an information rich, knowledge-based economy Develop human capacity as best resource Move Rwanda into 21st century using ICT as an enabler to achieve other development goals

Needs and Constraints Greatest need is for development of human capacity and skills within the country, yet many are illiterate or uneducated beyond primary levels Second greatest need is for development of infrastructure for ICT which is relatively weak and teledensity very low

Rwanda’s Greatest Assets Commitment, enthusiasm and urgency of President, Cabinet and Ministry Buy-in at all levels Language capabilities of Rwandese Young, energetic citizenry

Poverty Reduction Strategy Credit II E-gov being used to strengthen the government’s ability to provide quality services to its citizens and to improve internal governance ISGIF’s main input is assistance to the M&E activities

Comprehensive M&E system Design a simple system which links to the GOR’s financial monitoring system with programmatic data Help Ministries and MDAs understand the need for M&E and how it can help them deliver quality programs Work with 6 key ministries to define their KPIs in line with CAS, CDF and the Millennium Goals Solicit donor agreement that the reports MDAs produce will be acceptable

Comprehensive M&E system M&E to monitor all of GOR’s activities for its citizens, not just WB projects Ensure that systems are in place within the Ministries and the MDAs to collect, analyze, disseminate information collected through the M&E process for their own needs Ensure that local government systems are strengthened (equipment, transmission path, skilled employees and simple systems) to contribute to M&E Feedback to the MDAs as to their indicators and how they relate to comprehensive system

Public Sector Capacity Building Project GOR’s use of ICT as an input to economic transformation and growth 1. ICT Policy and Strategy Using Vision 2020 and the NICI Plan II, operationalize the vision into an action plan: Assist RITA to develop set standards and guidelines for all government ICT development; disseminate and ensure compliance with standards; work with each ministry to develop sectoral ICT policies

2. ICT Training and Employment Training – three levels: A) high level GOR officials on MIS, on how Internet and ICT can help in development of policy and development of sectors B) mid level GOR officials on sector specific training, such as on financial sector, HIS, M&E, telecommunications sector, ICT, web C) GOR support staff to do email, Internet searches, basic computer literacy, web Employment Fund – hire 10 graduates per year and second them to MDAs, UN, NGOs, RwandaTel, etc., to gain experience and enter the job market

3. ICT Planning and Infrastructure Inventory of MDAs: how to use existing equipment and skills; plan for future investments to address their ICT needs and strategies identified Improve procurement activities to achieve the sectoral strategies Set up a hardware/software maintenance and repair shop to serve the MDAs first, and eventually serve both public and private sector

Key issues not addressed in these projects Development of infrastructure – better data links and development of RwandaTel/RwandaCell, GOR Intranet, integration of voice and data, improvement of electricity grid Access for all – telecenters, data points, training, computer literacy, costs

Rudimentary e-gov System Start web publishing the ICT policies and standards of RITA; procurement documents Publish national indicators, budgets and activities for key ministries Advertise ICT opportunities – jobs, training, consultancies, procurement opportunities Publish core data from the ministries to start to form national data center