By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu
In a significant move to guarantee support for the full digitization of appropriation processes for the 2024 Anambra State Budget, the State ICT Agency has initiated a drive to speed up the configuration of official emails for state workers.
Earlier last year the emails were launched by the State Government to aid correspondence within the state government circle, as well as to authenticate transactions from and within government offices, demonstrating the state's commitment as a major stakeholder in the adoption of the Nigerian Second Level Domain (N2LD) policy.
To ensure the full digitization of the state budgetary processes, as envisioned by Mr Governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, Anambra State Government with the aid of a consultant, had developed software for the full digitization, with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, expected to turn in their proposals and defend same.
However, at the budget defense ongoing at the Inter-agency room of the State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Jerome Udoji Secretariat, Awka, it became imperative that Ministries and officials of government must access the platform created with the digitization software only with their official email addresses.
To this end, the State ICT Agency set up a dedicated desk at the Ministry, to assist with the creation and configuration of the emails for civil servants and MDAs, the MD/CEO of the State ICT Agency, Mr Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata revealed.
“As a proactive step, we saw the need to dedicate a team to handle this and assist government workers in setting up and configuring their official government emails on their phones and laptops. We are also setting up and configuring official emails for all the 21 ministries and the MDAs,”
“To access the platform for digitization, the civil servants are to log in with the official government emails.
“Recall how the email initiative came about. On February 16th, 2022, the Federal Executive Council approved the National Policy on the Nigeran Government Second-level Domains, to effectively regulate and manage the use of information and communication technologies in government institutions, specifically electronic correspondences within the government.
"This was why as part of the implementation of the policy, Anambra state obtained the @anambrastate.gov.ng domain name from the designated body, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and migrated accordingly.
“So, if you are communicating with a civil servant via generic emails such as Yahoo or Gmail addresses, those correspondences are not official, CFA concluded.
According to him, the idea is to streamline government processes, eradicate identity theft, and build trust in government through credible and transparent transactions while promoting data protection.
This strategic initiative is set to play a pivotal role in facilitating ongoing bilateral discussions with ministries, departments, and agencies within the state as part of preparations for the much-anticipated 2024 budget. It further aims to foster collaboration and maximize efficiency in the email configuration process, ultimately contributing to the success of the forthcoming budget preparations.
The configuration exercise not only exemplifies Governor Soludo's commitment to digitizing government operations and overall improvement of service delivery to the people of the state but also underscores the agency's dedication to seeing that this commitment translates to improved communication and data exchange among state workers. The enhanced email system will play a pivotal role in facilitating efficient discussions, data sharing, and decision-making as various stakeholders come together to shape the state's financial future in 2024.
As the State ICT Agency continues to work diligently on this project, the prospects for a more transparent, efficient, and data-driven budgeting process in 2024 appear promising, as the State ICT Agency remains committed to ensuring Mr. Governor's vision of Everything Technology and Technology Everywhere in the state remains a reality.
