Remmy Nweke:
Prologue:
THE United Nations Public Service Awards for 2013, has
pronounced Nigerian Galaxy Backbone’s 1-GOV.net initiative as the foremost in
the promotion of government’s approach to Information Age on the continent.
DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that 1-Gov.net is a
common Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform built and
operated by Galaxy Backbone plc on behalf of all the Ministries, Departments
and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government for the efficient and effective
delivery of public sector services, even as this would be the first time any
Nigerian initiative or institution is winning the UN Public Service Award in
any category from the continent.
Galaxy, an outstanding institution:
The United Nations Public Service Award is the most
prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service, and
rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service
institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration
in countries worldwide, with the theme: “Promoting Whole-of-Government
Approaches in the Information Age.”
A letter from the United Nations’ Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, sighted by DigitalSENSE Business News, the UN department
stated that “Your institution’s outstanding achievement has demonstrated
excellence in serving the public interest and I am confident it has made a
significant contribution to the improvement of public administration in your
country. Indeed, it will serve as an inspiration and encouragement for others
working for public service.”
Reacting on the award, Managing Director, Galaxy
Backbone, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, said that this was a recognition of the
painstaking consolidation and expansion of government-wide ICT infrastructure
which begun to yield its first fruits by enabling the automation of the Federal
Executive Council Memoranda process and the creation of a single hub for
citizens to access government services.
What’s 1-Gov.net:
According to him, Galaxy Backbone’s 1-GOV.net initiative
came up for recognition because it represents a creative and exemplary solution
that transformed the chaotic information technology landscape in the Federal
Government and its MDAs into a single, coordinated platform for e-government
programmes in the space of five years.
Also, 1-GOV.net, he noted, was recognized because of the
role it now plays in enabling other electronic government services for internal
government operations such as the automation of the memo handling process for
Federal Executive Council meetings; government personnel payroll management
(IPPIS) thus resulting in the gradual elimination of the ghost workers in the
Federal civil service; and an IP telephony system which allows for
communication within and across government MDAs.
1-GOV.net also supports the delivery of public services
such as the provision of bridging assistance for the transportation of
petroleum products to maintain uniform prices across the country with over
1,000 trucks are processed daily in real time by Petroleum Equalisation Fund;
the real time implementation of new biometric drivers licensing scheme
nationwide targeting over 20 million drivers by 30th September 2013; and the
processing of over 5 million international passengers in 2012 by the Nigerian
Immigrations Service.
Humbled by UN award:
Reacting after receiving the prize, Ilukwe said his team
were quietly doing its job in Abuja and stumbled on the award category and
decided to give it a shot. Noting that though the efforts earned Galaxy the
prestigious United Nations award, the company had over the years committed
itself to selling the initiative to government agencies which initially
resisted the product, and was not working for the sake of awards.
“The award came from the most unexpected quarter, it was
a very good feeling standing before world leaders to collect this prestigious
award, we are humbled by it, though we never work for awards, my team just does
its job and here we are being declared the best,” Ilukwe said, just as he urged
other promoters of Nigerian initiatives to explore windows offered by the
United Nations Organisation and similar organisations, elucidating that
Nigerian music for example is preferred abroad now to even western music.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon who was represented by Wu Hongbo,
under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, said, the winners
demonstrated the basic ingredients for
excellence comprising commitment and accountability, hard work and innovation,
talent and technological know-how.
Five categories of UNPSA:
United Nations Public Service Awards Programme is a
project of the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management
and in the winners emerged on UNPSA 2013 from five categories namely:
Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service; Improving the
Delivery of Public Services; Fostering participation in public policy decision
making through innovative mechanisms; Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches
in the Information Age; and Promoting Gender-Responsive Delivery of Public
Services
DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that before the
winners were eventually chosen, a follow-up questionnaire was administered to
the finalists, which saw 1-GOV.net a project of Galaxy Backbone plc winning the
UNPSA 2013 prize from Africa in the category 4 of the awards.
Worthy of mention here is that the United Nations Public
Service Awards Programme aims at promoting excellence in the public sector and
disseminating good practices for possible replication.
Adriana Alberti on behalf of the Director of DPADM/DESA,
Ms Haiyan Qian explained that in order to better disseminate successful
innovations in public administration, the questionnaire became necessary and
intends to gather information on the impact that winning the UN Public Service
Awards would have on future administration of the winners’ services.
Winners’ stories, Alberti said, elaborated from this
questionnaire are showcased in the upcoming UN Public Service Awards Newsletter
and sent out to all Permanent Missions to the United Nations, as well as our
partners and relevant institutions working in the field of governance.
The purpose:
The overall purpose of the UNPSA programme is to reward
the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions
towards a more effective and responsive public administration in countries
worldwide. An annual global competition that promotes the role, professionalism
and visibility of public service, it encourages exemplary public service and
recognizes that democracy and successful governance are built on a competent
civil service.
The Awards aim to
discover innovations in governance; reward excellence in the public sector;
motivate public servants to further promote innovation; enhance professionalism
in the public service; raise the image of public service; enhance trust in
government; and collect and disseminate successful practices for possible
replication between and within countries.
Mandate of GBB:
The company, Galaxy Backbone, has the mandate to build
and operate a Nationwide Broadband network that provides IP-based connectivity
services to all Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
and institutions. Galaxy prides itself as focused on providing ICT
infrastructure, applications and services to all Federal Government MDAs and
institutions which includes but not limited to managing Government Data Centers
and databases, Directory Services, National Information Repositories,
IP-telephony and other solutions/services delivered on the shared platform.
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