The National Backbone Infrastructure: Is the country reaping investment dividends?

Abstract

The National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure and e-Government Infrastructure (NBI/EGI) is a Government of Uganda (GoU) Initiative implemented by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector through the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U). Implementation started from FY 2006/07 –FY 2015/16. It aimed at connecting ministries and Government departments onto the e-Government Network. This was done to create an efficient government through simplifying procedures, bringing transparency, accountability and making timely information available to citizens. The objectives of the project were to: establish a secure NBI with high bandwidth data connection in major towns of Uganda; connect all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in a single wide area network; establish a government data centre, and establish district information centres. Implementation was initially arranged in three phases that ended FY 2015/16. The fourth phase of implementation is ongoing (FY 2016/17-21/22) as part of the Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme (RCIP), largely covering the missing links and last mile connectivity. The expected outputs at completion of the first three phases were: All government ministries connected; e-government implemented; an optic fiber backbone transmission cable set up across the country (2,294km); district information centres established to improve communication, improved service delivery by MDAs, and reduced cost of communications. This policy brief presents the extent to which GoU has reaped from the investment and proposes options for increasing the benefits.