The Cape Verdean Deputy Prime Minister, Olavo Correia, said today (14) that the Government wants to reach 60% of digital public services by 2026 and increase that percentage to more than 80% four years later.
"By 2026 we want to have 60% of government services made available to citizens digitally and by 2030 we have values above 80%", traced the also Minister of Finance and Digital Economy of Cape Verde, at the opening of a workshop held in the city of Praia on “Challenges of digital transformation in the payments industry” in the country, which precedes the IX Meeting on the Payment System of Central Banks of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.
In March, in an interview with Expresso das Ilhas, the Minister for Modernization of the State and Public Administration, Edna Oliveira, also present today at the workshop, revealed that only 7% of public services are provided digitally.
The deputy prime minister reaffirmed the idea of Cape Verde working in a “digital nation”, considering that for this to happen it is necessary that “data move and not people”.
"Because today people move all day long, and often unnecessarily, implying time costs, financial costs, bureaucracy, hassle, when we have technologies that can allow data to move and people, from anywhere and everywhere. any time of the day, can be served, either with government services, but also with private services“, noted Olavo Correia.
Data capture and sharing between ministries and institutions, digital administration, innovation, centralization, interoperability, digital inclusion and digital governance were other aspects pointed out by the minister.
"To do that, we have to think big, we have to be bold and we have to be fast.“, challenged the official, for whom the digital government is not just a matter of technology, but of talent, human capital, attitude and vision.
"Technology has to be at the service of all this and not the other way around, technology has to be at the service of people and not people at the service of technology“, insisted Correia, underlining the importance of digital inclusion and digital citizenship, to include everyone.
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Another challenge pointed out by the minister is cybersecurity, considering that this aspect should not be an “alibi” for institutions to stop doing what needs to be done.
"In all these reforms, we have to be transparent and honest with our fellow citizens, because it is something that is essential in all of this, the invisible thing, but which is key, trust. Without trust we cannot build and build a digital economy", he understood.
To create this digital Nation, Olavo Correia pointed to the Government's "strong agenda", with the creation of a special zone for the sector, a legal framework that is being finalized and investment in infrastructure.
With the workshop, the BCV intends to promote the broadening of the debate around innovation and digital transformation in the payments sector, also to the financial community and all market players.
The IX Meeting on the Payment System of Central Banks of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries will take place over the next three days, in the city of Praia, with the main theme “Digital innovation as a payment system transformation strategy".
