#National News

GICTA tours ICT providers

Jun 24, 2024, 11:50 AM | Article By: Jankey Ceesay

The Gambia Information and Communication Technology Agency (GICTA) a new Agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (MOCDE), established to implement ICT services in government and enforce standards in relation to information technology planning, Implementation and utilization for government continued its familiarization tour of ICT providers on Friday.

Prof. Abdou Karim Jallow, director general of GICTA, said his office is responsible for coordinating design, development, implementation and operationalisation of system within government. He added that it also leads in the implementation of government plan.

"The Act that established the agency clearly specifies the need to support the private sector and encourage local content and application development," he added.

He added that this cannot be done without collaborating with the private sector "therefore before we strategise, we need to understand the people we are going to collaborate with. This is why we are visiting them to comprehend the private domain which will help foster partnership, create jobs and generate income."

Sanusi Drammeh, director of Cyber Security at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, encouraged providers to apply secure coding. According to him, "without secure coding certain applications you will be using will be vulnerable to attacks. In as much as we want to develop, we should not neglect the security aspect."

Simon P. Abraham, chief executive officer (CEO) of Netpage, an internet provider company in The Gambia, acknowledged how instrumental the agency is going to be in the ICT sector, and advised them to work towards integrating all government departments into a single unified system.

He urged government to involve the private sector in policy and plans development, saying "we should not be seen as competitors but rather as development partners who complement each other's efforts to get the country to the digitalisation it deserves."

Yolande Margaret Goswell, 2M Corp Project Manager, commended the initiative and acknowledged how timely it was. "In this era of technological revolution it is about time Gambia moves alongside with such initiatives that will promote digital economy. It is also important to have a central agency for individuals and companies that are into tech, which will serve as links between them and government and renders activated support where needed."