Filenews 19 April 2024
The Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Nikodemos Damianou, defined the three problems faced by the implementation of the project for the digital transition.
The Deputy Minister in an interview with CNA pointed to the prevailing culture as one of the obstacles he faces in implementing the digital transition. "As a government we live in the belief that our world is special, much more complex than anyone else's. And it is through this belief that we operate, design, implement systems. This creates a culture that justifies delaying or using sub-best practices," he said.
On the contrary, he said, "if we accept, which we must accept, that we are also an organization that has customers and even the most demanding customers, all citizens and all businesses of the country, then we will understand and move towards using methodologies, technologies, tools and be as efficient as any other organization. This is my philosophy and this is the direction we are taking," he noted.
A second problem he identifies, he said, has to do with system selection procedures, tender procedures. "Indeed, systems that are in development, such as e-justice, have taken too long to be selected, two to three years at best, while there is also the appeals process, which delays the award of tenders," he said, noting that all these are pathogens that need to be changed.
He said that he found a very positive response from the Treasury and the Public Procurement Authority in the effort to simplify and standardize procedures. "A project will be launched under the supervision of the Treasury, in which the Pancyprian Association of Information Technology Enterprises (CITEA) will be with us, to hear their views to simplify and improve procedures," he said.
The third point, to which he referred, has to do with the fact that we need "to be better organized, to have a more correct structure as IT services, to be better staffed, and this is a great challenge, because today one does not easily find qualified personnel to be able to respond".
