Mayors of the East Region and their Information Technology administrators drawn from some 36 councils have been equipped with 21st century digital skills that will enable them leverage the transformative potential of ICTs to boost service delivery and augment revenue collection in their municipalities.
This was within the ambit of a three-day seminar organized by ANTIC in partnership with the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development (MINDDEVEL), Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (FEICOM), National Civil Status Registration Office (BUNEC), Public Contracts Regulatory Agency (ARMP) and the National Participatory Development Program (PNDP) in Bertoua, 27 – 29 March 2024.
In a keynote at the opening of the seminar, ANTIC'S Director General, Prof. EBOT EBOT Enaw hinted that the event which was taking place under the theme: "Local development in the era of digital transformation" was in keeping with ANTIC's ongoing contribution to the decentralization effort undertaken by the Government of Cameroon.
Futher to this, Prof. Ebot noted that, as enablers of transparent management of resources and drivers of good governance and job creation, the adoption of ICTs into daily activites of councils would significantly improve the living conditions of citizens in their municipalities.
With the online presence of councils in the Region still at its infancy with barely seven (07) out of 36 councils in the region in possession of a website, representing 19%, the skills acquired at the seminar are expected to help the councils reverse the trend and leverage benefits offered by online platforms.
The Bertoua event brought the number of councils already trained by ANTIC on the integration of ICTs into local governance as well as accompanied in the development of their ICT projects to 163 representing 45 percent.
Thanks to ongoing collaboration between ANTIC and municipal councils, some outstanding projects have already been realised notably: the development of an IT Master Plan for the Bafoussam City Council and the East Regional Council as well as support for the ICT project maturity for Ebolowa City Council and Lokoundje Municipal Council.
Speaking at the event the Bertoua City Mayor, Mr. Jean Marie Dimbele hinted that the City Council would make available a piece of land measuring 1000 m2 to ANTIC to construct the East Regional Branch Office of the Agency in a bid to effectively accompany councils of the region in their digital transformation drive.
The seminar, which was in its fifth (5th) edition, came after that of Bafoussam for the West Region in 2020, Ebolowa for the South Region in 2021, Limbe for the South West Region in 2022 and Ngaoundere for Adamawa Region in 2023.
