Current ICT Initiatives and projects - Republic of Mozambique

Mozambique is currently investing in several ICT projects as a consequence of the gradual realisation of the ICT Policy, its implementing strategy and the Mozambican eGovernment Strategy. ICT Initiatives are currently ongoing at national level in the areas of eGovernment (Electronic Government Network, Government Portal, Capacity Building, State Financial Administration System, Mozambique eGovernment Communication Infrastructure project, National System of Civil Registration, Biometric Driving Licence and Motor Registration Systems, Biometric ID Card and Passport, Criminal Registration System) and Digital Divide (Provincial Digital Resource Centres, Multimedia Community Centres Programme).

Electronic Government Network (GovNET)

GovNet project commenced in 2004 initially as a Pilot Phase aimed at providing the necessary support in the definition of the technical (hardware, software, networking) requirements, communication protocols to be put in place, naming conventions to be established, definition of security rules. During the Pilot phase central level of the government located in Maputo were connected. Due to the successful implementation of the pilot phase, the Italian Government extended its funding and the Extension Phase took place benefiting 4 to 5 institutions at provincial level. From 2010 a third phase expaned connectivity to the districts to cover all of the 128 existing districts in Mozambique.

Funding : Italian Government, World Bank and Government of Mozambique, and implemented by the National ICT Institute (INTIC) (formally the ICT Policy Implementation Unit UTICT).

Geographic scope : Government agencies at national level

Government Portal

The Government Portal initiative is aimed at providing a single entry point to Government information and services which are organised according to the interests and needs of citizens, allowing access anytime, anyplace and anywhere. The Government Portal was launched in 2006 by the former Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diogo. Following that several Provincial government Portals have being developed.

Funding : Italian Government through the GovNET Project described above

Geographic scope : Government agencies at national level

State Financial Administration System eSISTAFE

The State Financial Administration System (e-SISTAFE) was implemented to provide financial administration services through the Internet using a single Bank account for all government institutions expenditures. Through this system the institutional budgets are assigned and monthly reports are also presented allowing the Ministry of Finance to present the annual State Financial Report in a timely fashion, present quarterly reports about the execution of the budget and submit the proposed State Budget to the Parliament before 30th September each year.

This project also demonstrates that government transactions such as G2G (government-to-government), G2B (government-to-business) and G2C (government-to-citizen) can be done more effective and efficient when availed electronically so long as all the security mechanisms are taken. This project is being implemented by the Ministry of Finance, through the Development Centre of Financial Information Systems (CEDSIF).

Funding : World Bank

Geographic scope : Government agencies at national level

Mozambique eGovernment Communication Infrastructure Project (MEGCIP) (2010 - 2014)

MEGCIP aims to support the Government of Mozambique efforts to lower communication costs by using international capacity to extend the geographic reach of the broadband networks and contribute in improving the efficiency and transparency through e-Government applications. This project is hosted at the Ministry of Science and Technology and consists of components focused on communication infrastructure, policy and regulation, eGovernment applications and institutional capacity building. Different parts of the project components are implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology, National ICT Institute (INTIC), The Ministry of Transport and Communication and the Mozambican National Institute of Communications (INCM).

As part of this project the Electronic Transaction Law was prepared and other regulations put in place.

Funding: World Bank, with an implementation time frame of 2010 to 2015, total budget of $30,000,000 USD

Geographic scope: National

Mobile ICT Unit

The Mozambican Mobile Unit provides training courses in districts isolated from ICT facilities to address the problem of ICT skilled human resources across the country. The training is provided in a mobile unit set up as a classroom, equipped with 10 computers. This mobile ICT technology provides relevant programs for public servants and other community members. Within the Mobile Unit, these groups can also access a variety of information via the Internet and email.

Funding: UNDP and Italian Government

Geographic scope: Districts

Provincial Digital Resource Centres (CPRDs)

Provincial Digital Resource Centres (CPRDs) concentrate ICT infrastructure, skills and investment by providing a single entry point for ICT deployment and activity in the provinces, stimulate local demand and use of ICT by all sectors of development and support capacity building and development of local content. The first CPRDs were established in 2004 in the Provinces of Inhambane and Tete by the ICT Policy Implementation Unit (UTICT), with funds provided by UNDP.

Based on demonstrating an impact in these provinces through the provision of ICT training courses, computer maintenance, network administration, data base designs and many other ICT services that were not offered at a provincial level further funding was provided by UNDP, Microsoft, Government funds through the Public Sector Reform Program and Italian Government, to facilitate the extension of these facilities in 6 more provinces (Nampula, Gaza, Sofala, Zambezia, Cabo Delgado and Niassa) from 2005 to 2009.

Funds were secured through the STIFIMO project funded by the Finnish Government to establish three additional centres in the remaining 3 provinces (Maputo, Maputo City and Manica). The CPRDs have been working as local hubs with a multi-sectoral and multi-functional approach, fostering linkages with local media to multiply the benefits of Internet connectivity and rural access to information, reducing internal digital divide.

Funding: UNDP, Italian Government, Microsoft Corporation, Mozambican Government and Finnish Government

Geographic scope: National

National System of Civil Registration (SINAREC)

This project aims to efficiently and effectively plan for and implement social services for citizens, promote democracy through the availability of efficient and correct registers for voting, promote an efficient, effective and fair government, etc. The project will run in phases, with a Pilot Phase which will apply a birth registration system with a unique ID number to a chosen set of 1000 peoples and pilot the registered population as the core of the eGovernment initiative including investigating and testing integrations and interoperability to the rest of the eGovernment projects.

Partners: Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Justice, the Mozambican International Bank and the Swedish Tax Agency

Biometric Driving Licence and Motor Vehicle Registration Systems

This system is used to produce new driving licence cards without the use of special equipment, which has visible security features to facilitate a quick visual check, and it contains invisible and/or confidential security features for a second-level check.

The Motor Vehicle Registration System is used to register motor vehicles, issue registration plates and motor vehicle permits, deregistration of motor vehicles, change of vehicle particulars, change of ownership of a motor vehicle, financial information and accountability, transaction auditing and management information reports. The two systems developed to provide driving licences and vehicle number plates will match the standard and format used in the SADC region.

Funding : World Bank

Geographic scope: National

Biometric ID Card and Passport

The new ID card is a huge step forward in solving problems of citizens who previously had to wait for months or even years for their ID cards. It incorporates biometrical features, which are used to establish a person's identity which can later be compared with stored reference data. The biometric identifiers used in this card are the fingerprint and the facial image, making it a secure identification document that is difficult to forge. The system was developed by Semlex, a Belgian company that invested 50 million dollars in setting up the new ID system and passport. Semlex aims to recover this investment from the sale of the ID cards, which will cost 180 meticais (about 6.6 US dollars) each, while the new passports cost 3,000 MT, or 3,750 MT if the document needs to be issued within two days. This is quite expensive when compared to the current statutory minimum wage for agricultural workers (1,486 MT) and workers in financial services (2,745 MT). The old ID Cards and passports remain valid until they expire.

Criminal Registration System

This application aims to facilitate the exchange of records between the provincial delegations and central institutions about the criminal status of the citizens, which is then used to issue criminal certifications in a more timely fashion. This certification is often required for new employments, bank loans etc.

Geographic scope: National

Multimedia Community Centres (MCC) Programme

This program aims at providing a means by which the community have access to information using a wide range of information and communication technologies through a single point. This is also serving to reduce the digital divide, reduce poverty by enabling people to solve development problems that the community faces and strengthen the community capacity.

It is mainly implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology but with a contribution of different institutions such as the Centre of Informatics of the Eduardo Mondlane University (CIUEM), the National ICT Institute (INTIC) and UNESCO.

Funding: World Bank, UNESCO, UNDP

Geographic coverage: National