Current ICT Initiatives and Projects - Republic of Burundi

ICT Initiatives are primarily focused on eInfrastructure and eGovernment. A metropolitan area network has been set up in Bujumbura, Gitega Province and Ngozi Province. Telecentre is facilitating Internet access within secondary schools.

National Projects leveraging ICT

The Ministry of Communications is supporting the COMGOV project, which includes a data and application server, website and government mail server. The national backbone provides internet connectivity, data transmission, unified communications for email and video conferencing, mobile backhaul, cloud services, Internet Exchange point and internet IPTV.

The Ministry of Health is leveraging ICT to support the implementation of the national health plan (PNDIS 2015 - 2019). It includes an eHealth Enterprise Architecture for Burundi and implementation plan. Over the coming five to ten years it aims to establish a professional health datacentre, create an effective intranet between health facilities, deploy a central warehouse for aggregated health data, set up an eHealth National Steering Comittee and support capacity building in eHealth.

The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a website to support easier data exchange in relation to agriculture, livestock farming and environmental issues. Projects are ongoing to support information feeds to inform farmers on prices and agriculture production issues and to create an interactive irrigation map.

Broadband Wireless Network

ITU implemented the Broadband Wireless Network Project in Burundi. The main outputs of this project include: Deployment of wireless broadband infrastructure in Burundi; Development of ICT applications; Training local experts on the operation of deployed wireless communication networks; Development of national ICT broadband network plans for Burundi that will deliver free or low cost digital access for schools and hospitals, and for underserved populations in rural and remote areas; Development of an impact assessment report and reporting. This project commenced in 2009 and finished in December 2014.

Establishment of National CIRT

ITU implemented the establishment of the National Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) in Burundi. This project aimed to assist the Government of Burundi in building and deploying the technical capabilities and training required to establish the national CIRT. This will also assist in developing national cybersecurity capacity. This project ran from January 2013 to February 2015.

Regional Communications Infrastructure Project

This regional project focused on Burundi, Kenya and Madagascar to support the enabling environment, connectivity and preparation for eGovernment applications. This project supported by World Bank and partners and implemented by Ministère des Télécommunications, de l'Information, de la Communication et des Relations avec le Parlement commenced in 2007. The project in Burundi was restructured in April 2013 with the project life extended until April 2014.

Burundi Education and Research Network (BERNET)

The ICT Executive Secretariat (SETIC) sponsored the creation of Burundi NREN through the establishment of a physical Last Mile connection to 15 public and private higher education institutions, which form the core members of BERNET. SETIC has also secured the Association's membership in UbuntuNetAlliance and acquired a block of IP addresses from Afrinic. BERNET is up and running as a non-profit Association since 2014 governed by an Executive Committee supported by an in-house Technical Team. To date fifteen universities are connected to BERNET leveraging discounted pricing put in place with Burundi Backbone System Company. However, most institutions have access to limited connectivity compared to the number of users within the institution. In 2016 BERNET was accredited as an Internet Service Provider and are now connecting some government institutions. Through UbuntuNet Alliance BERNET has the potential to benefit from the Africa Connect 2 project but to date the matching funding at national level has not been secured.