Uganda government IT developments, IT News, Jobs and Procurements

The National Information Technology Authority – Uganda (NITA-U) is implementing the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure and e-Government Infrastructure Project (NBI/EGI) whose major aims are to connect all major towns within the country onto an Optical Fibre Cable based Network and to connect Ministries and Government Departments onto the e-Government Network. The NBI/EGI is composed of two components, the National Data Transmission Infrastructure (NBI) and the e-Government Infrastructure (EGI). The NBI component is designed to connect all major towns onto the National Backbone through the laying of Optical fibre cable.

The NBI broadly consists of the following:

1. 1536.39Kms of Optical Fibre Cable across the country to build the National Data Transmission Backbone;
2. Optical Fibre connections from Kampala – Busia/Malaba Border to connect Uganda to Kenya, Kampala – Nimule, to connect Uganda to Southern Sudan and Kampala-Katuna to connect Uganda to Rwanda.

The EGI component is intended to connect Ministries and Government Departments into an e-Government Network to provide services such as videoconferencing, Data and Voice communication.

The EGI consists of the following scope:

1. The Primary Data Centre for Government.
2. Connection to Ministries and Government Departments through the laying of Optical Fibre Cable onto the e-Government Network.
3. Services such as videoconferencing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Data exchange and internet access over the e-Government Infrastructure.

Overall Benefits of the NBI/EGI Project

1. The E-Government Network Infrastructure is designed to reduce the cost of doing business and public administration in government, improving communications between government agencies, and the
   delivery of E-Government services within government, to citizens and businesses such as the:
2. Electronic Document storage, retrieval and processing
3. Government web portal and websites for the various branches of Government.
4. Public Key Infrastructure and Electronic Signatures.
5. Online services within Government in areas like procurement
6. Electronic forms for Passport application, Assessment on Taxes
7. National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) which involves the laying of Fiber Optic Cable in major towns across the country is intended to ensure that high bandwidth data connection is available in all major
   towns of Uganda at a reasonable rate.
8. Create a more accountable Government;
9. Increase transparency;
10. Strengthen good governance.

Current Status

Phase I of the NBI has been completed and involved the laying of 168Kms of fiber optic cable to link five (5) towns; Mukono, Bombo, Entebbe and Jinja to Kampala.
The first phase of the EGI has been completed and the following, among others, have been achieved:

1. Laying of the optical fiber cable within Kampala and Entebbe to link 27 Ministries and Government Departments;
2. Delivery and installation of transmission equipment in the five (5) Transmission stations; Entebbe, Bombo, Jinja, Kampala and Mukono have been completed.

Future Plans.

1. Phase II of the NBI/EGI Project is currently ongoing. It involves the laying of 1477 km of additional Optical Fiber Cable to connect the towns of Busia, Tororo, Mbale, Kumi, Soroti, Lira, Gulu, Nimule, Masindi, Hoima, Kyenjojo, Fort Portal, Kasese, Bushenyi, Mbarara, Nakasongola and Luwero onto to the National Backbone, the construction of the Primary Data Centre, and the deployment of a Government secure collaboration and messaging system. Completionis expectedin May 2011.
2. Commercialization of the NBI is expected to commence in May 2011 which will entail the management of the NBI/EGI infrastructure and collection of revenues from the Infrastructure.
3. Phase III of the NBI will involve the laying of Optical Fiber Cable to connect Masaka, Mbarara,Ntungamo, Kabale and Katuna onto the National Backbone and the construction of the Network Operations
   Center (NOC). This will commence in July 2011.

The following has been achieved.

1. Delivery and installation of communication equipment to the 27 Ministries and Departments that form the E-Government network was been completed;
2. Videoconferencing services have been deployed to 27 Ministries and Departments;
3. Backup communication equipment for each of the EGI sites have been delivered and installed;
4. VoIP service is currently under test and three (3) pilot sites; NITA-U, Ministry of Foreign Affair and Ministry of Internal Affairs have been identified for the deployment of the service.
5. NITA-U has realigned the National Backbone Infrastructure Program to confirm quality of the Optic fiber cable and all installations done in Phase I and the subsequent Phases to ensure reliability in providing services to the citizens.
6. A detailed quality assurance process has been developed to ensure quality of Phase I and Phase II of the NBI/EGI Project.

E-Government main equipment room

Phase I: Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja, Mukono, Bombo

Phase II: Luwero, Nakasongola, Masindi, Gulu, Nimule, Lira, Soroti, Kumi, Mbale, Tororo, Busia, Malaba, Iganga, Mbarara, Kasese, Bushenyi, Fortportal,

Kyenjojo and Hoima.

Phase III: Katuna, Kabale, Ntungamo, Masaka
Phase IV: Sironko, Kapchorwa, Nakapiripirt, Moroto, Kotido, Kitgum, Adjumani, Moyo, Yumbe, Arua, Nebbi andPakwach

The Parliament of Uganda approved the implementation of Phase IV of the Project to similarly cover the towns of Sironko, Kapchorwa, Nakapiripirt, Moroto, Kotido, Kitgum, Adjumani, Moyo, Yumbe, Arua, Nebbi and Pakwach. Funding for Phase IV is not covered under the concessional loan from the Peoples’ Republic of China and therefore will be source by the Government of Uganda

Proposed Harmonization with the Private Sector

The private sector has likewise undertaken to lay Optical Fiber Cable in order to build Optical networks to extend their services throughout the country. The Ministry of ICT and NITA-U are in discussions with the Private sector to harmonize future deployment of their networks with the building of the National Backbone.

The harmonization of the plans of the Private Sector and Government of Uganda in the deployment of their respective optical fiber networks, can lead to extending the scope of the Phases II of the NBI which will ultimately allow the private sector and Government to extend their service offering further throughout the country using optical fiber