NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The government has commissioned the University of The Bahamas to conduct a survey reviewing the digital public service needs.
The contract is valued at $28,000.
The survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Transformation and Digitization in the Office of the Prime Minister and the Government and Public Policy Institute of the University of The Bahamas.
The initiative will poll a minimum of 500 customers from 12 government agencies to determine how they use those service, how those services can be improved, and get an overall understanding for the public demand for digital government services.
The results of the survey will be used to move forward the transformation of government services through the modernization and digitization of the public sector.
“To achieve the level of transformation desired and in the timeframes expected, institutions such as GPPI are vitally critical to assessing the environment in which we seek to operate,” said Senator Kwasi Thompson, who has responsibility for the department.
“In today’s world, productivity is no longer measured by activities but by achievements.
“We want to know whether the public is aware of the services that government offers; whether they use the online services and if not, why not.
“We need to know the public appetite for change to online services. We need to know the public’s expectation and satisfaction with government services.
“There is the truism ‘What gets measured, gets done’.
“The contract to be signed this morning is to allow UB to conduct a survey and gather baseline information that will allow us to measure progress and success.”
Thompson noted the government’s goal is to create a digitized public service environment where customers can expect an improvement in the ease of doing business through a reduction in the time it takes to incorporate a business; greater transparency in the government process; improvement in services, both in process and delivery; better data collection and analysis to assist with more informed decision making; and to create an environment that fosters greater public private ICT partnerships and innovations.
A Modernization Unit has been established in the Office of the Prime Minister, and senior government officials took part in e-Governance Training at Estonia’s e-Governance Academy in October 2018, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Earlier this year, the government signed a $30 million loan agreement with the inter-American Development Bank for the digitization of the public service.
