Current Activities at E-Society Oct 2019- April 2020
Hold a 1-day capacity building workshop for women leaders in Kasese District
| Conduct a customized ICT Skills training to 2 women groups in 2 constituencies to build their capacity in planning, budgeting and service delivery monitoring |
| Work with 1 women group in Kasese Municipality to promote collaboration and rapid response to online gender based violence |
| Hold a 5 days’ skills training of 20 physically disabled youths in Basic ICT |
| Conduct quarterly radio opinion polls and civic education spot messages on community feedback/audit on public service delivery standards |
| Hold 1 radio debate with topical discussions on the district budget frame work paper analysis, service delivery analysis and impact in the community |
| Upgrade, refocus and maintain the Kasese District website |
Introduction
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a convergence of microelectronics, computing (hardware and software) systems and telecommunications to perform day to day activities.
Background of ICT in Kasese District Local Government
ICT in Kasese District Local Government was introduced as early as 1998 when computer usage to course in Uganda. ICT usage has since then been a challenge to the community and public servants as computers seamed hard to use and expensive to acquire as well as maintain until the introduction of the E-Society Resource Centre in Kasese District.
The E-society Resource Centre (ESRC) is the District ICT hub, a point for citizens to access, share and disseminate information on local governance and service delivery using ICTs. The E-Society concept was initiated in December 2006 by a Public Private Partnership (PPP) strategy. The consolidated member organizations Rwenzori Consortium for civic Competence (RWECO) and Rwenzori Information Centres Network (Ric-Net) signed a memorandum of understanding with Kasese District Local Government. In December 2009 Ric-Net then kick started by setting up of the District Information Desk which then became the ICT hub for Kasese with the purpose of ensuring a poverty free society using ICT.
The Centre was opened for full operation in December 2009 and later officially commissioned on 20th April 2011 by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Local Government. The Centre collaboration with Ric-Net/RWECO ended in December 2013. The Centre was voluntarily joined by CIPESA in October 2011 which partnership and collaboration has stayed to date. The Centre which in now the District ICT section has a full time appointed staff the ICT Officer who also assists the DIO to run ICT related activities.
Objectives of the Centre
The Centre was set up to meet the following objectives;
- To bring the society of Kasese into a purview of electronic usage for poverty alleviation to improve their social, economic, health, cultural and educational status. The E-Society is to bridge the Digital Divide. This entirely relies upon internet accessibility and reliability at the Centre.
- To empower the society by obtaining good governance and advocacy through Knowledge empowerment. This is done by the E-Society answering the issue of inadequate access to timely and relevant information, a key aspect that limits citizen’s effective participation in the planning and monitoring processes in the district.
Core values
Promoting Technology: we promote the use of ICT technologies in the community
Skilling the youth: we embark on offering practical skills to the community in Kasese District
Promoting good governance: we empower communities to engage government through various platforms and technologies to enable communities participate in service delivery monitoring and demanding social accountability.
Information sharing: we facilitate useful and relevant information access, sharing and dissemination through computer technologies
Innovativeness: we promote the use of the acquired skills to influence technological innovations and creativity
Wealth creation: we advocate for the use of the acquired skills, innovations to promote wealth creation for a poverty free society.
E-Society offers the following services
- We offer ICT Technical support to the District headquarters offices, Lower Local Governments, Primary schools and the community around Kasese especially the youth.
- We offer internet services to Kasese District workers and the community around Kasese
- We offer computer skills training to District workers and the community around Kasese town
- We manage Kasese District website and other district e-Platforms like; Kasese Online news, Kasese online discussion group, Kasese Electronic Library and District official emails.
- Internship opportunities to university students
- Capacity building to local leaders in Access to Information act 2005
- facilitate community and district leadership engagements through community dialogue meetings and radio programmes
- we bridge the district leadership and the media and carry out media capacity buiding trainings
- we offer skill and sensitize the youth on ICT issues for good governance.
- We promote ICT for good governance by facilitating relevant public information access and sharing, bridging the gap between government and the community through district electronic communication platforms, social media and followup on community concerns for action by district leadership
These can be accessed on the following links
We facilitate information sharing platforms using these website links
11. We disseminate District information about government programs and service delivery like District strategic/Development plans, reports in both hard and soft copies
12. We have a mini community library with government publications and community timely magazines and news letters
Centre target groups
- The youth in Kasese District
- Civil servants and political leaders of Kasese District.
- All Community members around Kasese Municipality and around Kasese District
Internship student on practice
Equipment at the Centre
- We have 12 desktop computer and 1 Laptop
- We have 1 canon photocopier which is three in one (Photocopier, printer and scanner)
- We have a heavy duty backup generator
- We have a fully installed and functioning LAN/WLAN with internet connection
- We have a fully functional mini community Library
Key Achievements of the Centre
- Service delivery: E-Society has successfully offered the above mentioned services for the last 4 years at almost free cost. This was in order to build the capacity of the people of Kasese and skill them with ICT skills to enhance information access, sharing and dissemination and research.
- The establishment of the ICT Sub Section at Kasese District Local Government. The Centre has since then become the ICT hub for Kasese District. This has answered all ICT related questions for the District Local Government. The Centre’s existence influenced the recruitment of the first ever ICT Officer at the District level in the country in 2013. The Centre has since then become the ICT Sub section under the ICT Officer. This has reduced the costs of expenditures on ICT/Computer services outsourcing. It has improved the efficiency of workers since the full time Officer is there to rectify any computer breakdowns and handle emergencies in the computer sector.
- Capacity building: about 500 youths have been trained in computer skills,70 university students trained in Technical ICT skills.
- has bridged the gap between the community, media and government through ICTs
Our Current partners
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) http://cipesa.org
Our founding partners
- Ric-Net—-www.ricnet.co.ug
- RWECO—-www.rweco.org
Contact us
E-Society Resource Centre
Kasese District Local Government
P.O.Box 250, Kasese, Uganda, E.Africa
Tel: 256 392 888974
Mob: 256776003248/705199116
Email: icto@kasese.go.ug/smmumbere@gmail.com
