Guyana president reiterates plan to fully implement digital govt program by 2026

President Irfaan Ali of Guyana has restated his desire to ensure that most, if not all, government services are fully digitized before next year runs out.

Dr Ali made the pledge recently during the maiden press conference of his second presidency in the capital Georgetown.

The Guyana leader said he had put in place measures to have the his vision realized, according to a press release from the presidency.

“A few days ago, I held a meeting with all the IT heads and outlined the digital transformation plan aimed at fully digitalizing all government services before the end of the second quarter in 2026,” Ali said during the press conference.

“I have announced the appointment of the Chief Technology Officer, who will be supported by the NDMA [National Data Management Authority], to manage the digitization process and to implement a digital platform to monitor and track key performance indicators for government agencies, ensuring greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency,” he added.

The country’s leader also mentioned that the digitization drive intends to put in place a common digital government platform that will link up services across government agencies and streamline access to them.

According to Ali, many of the services are already being migrated onto the dedicated platform, and some of the services to be streamlined include procedures for obtaining security clearance, birth and death certificates.

Other digital transformation projects the president talked about during his presser include an online passport application portal which would go live at the end of this year, as well as a national digital ID which is expected to be rolled out by the second quarter of next year. The sum of $4.8 was allocated for the ID project in this year’s budget and German firm Veridos holds the contract.

A biometric passport system was launched earlier this year, so was a biometric border management system, the president recalled, alluding to the country’s push to modernize its immigration processes.

Ali also mentioned ongoing efforts to digitize Guyana’s healthcare system, citing a pilot to test an online appointments platform. “As you know, we don’t want the lines that you see in the hospitals and clinics,” he said.

“We want to move the system into an app-based system where you have appointments, so you don’t have to waste your time or sit at these clinics for hours.”

The president stated that the ongoing efforts to digitize public services are not only meant to modernize how public services are delivered, but also to reasonably improve the lives and wellbeing of citizens under what he termed Digital Guyana.

“Digital Guyana is our commitment to building a modern state where technology makes public service faster, faster services, more accessible and more responsive,” he stated.

One aspect of Guyana’s digitization efforts which is seemingly not going smoothly is the proposal to introduce biometrics for voter verification. The move has proven to be a highly contentious issue.

Article Topics

digital government  |  Digital Guyana  |  digital ID  |  government services  |  Guyana