Africa-Press – Ethiopia. Ministry of Innovation and Technology disclosed that more than 2 million citizens have been benefiting from the 170 different digital services developed with a view to expediting public services being rendered in Ethiopia.
Information Communication Technology Sector Director-General at the ministry, Abiyot Sinamo told ENA that the national strategy designed to digitalize key public services has been well underway and being implemented as per the plan.
According to him, 34 institutions are providing services using digital technologies.
He said 170 different services are being provided using digital technologies, adding that the number of citizens who have been benefiting from the technologies has reached 2 million.
The ministry is working to increase the type of public services to be accessed by citizens to 400 in the current Ethiopian fiscal year, Abiyot said.
At the end of the ten-year prospective plan of the ministry, 85 percent of public services will be rendered through digital technologies developed by the ministry.
The ministry planned to develop digital services to over 2,500 different public services reaching more than 60 million citizens across the country over the coming ten years, the director-general noted.
According to him, the expansion of digital technologies in public services will enable the nation to expedite social and economic growth in addition to its contribution in creating jobs to the youth in the course of developing the technologies.
Citing a study conducted by the UN, Abiyot stated that the amount of money being circulated digitally is estimated at more than 3 trillion USD.
Efforts are being undertaken to exploit this potential to create more jobs to the youth in Ethiopia, he added.
Issuance of trade licenses, issues related to pension, airline ticketing, cross-boundary clearance, among others, are services that have now been digitalized.
