Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) has announced a $1.76m upgrade of its IT systems by Digicel TCI to improve its efficiency and revenue collection Friday Nov 23, 2012.
The contract is expected to save the Government around $62,000 a month or $3.7M over the five-year term of the contract over its current IT spend.
The agreement provides for the installation of a new network infrastructure that will improve the security and reliability of the current online systems. It will also see the provision of new computer equipment and WAN/LAN connectivity for the TCIG.
The new system is being designed to handle multiple applications simultaneously and prevent the frustrating system ‘freezes’ that civil servants and the TCI public often have to endure.
The upgrade will provide higher data communication bandwidth to allow better faster communications between TCIG people, departments and the outside world.
Anya Williams, Deputy Governor and Head of the TCI Public Service said, “I am quite enthusiastic about the new agreement with Digicel as it will revolutionise not only the manner in which civil servants will be able to carry out their duties, but also the way that we communicate both internally and externally, with persons on island and abroad and the manner in which we provide services to the public. This forms a part of our commitment to modernise TCIG and to bring much needed reforms to the way we conduct business.”
The benefits of the new system also include:
1.Greater accountability of public spending by making it easier for government employees to track their expenditures through better access to the Financial Management System
2.Reductions in the cost of phone calls and internet communications
3.Improved communications between government facilities scattered across the family islands
4.Extensive replacement of obsolete computer equipment
TCIG’s Lorenzo Grant said, “We are very excited to be working in partnership with Digicel TCI on this ambitious project and have great confidence in our combined abilities to deliver and in fact exceed the objectives. Mr. Saunders and his team’s expertise has allowed us to quickly come to a shared vision for the technologies to be introduced and to move decisively in the decision making process.
“The Turks and Caicos Island Government can look forward to having the tools and infrastructure to operate efficiently, be at its most productive and affordable IT costs.”
Managing Director of Digicel TCI, E. Jay Saunders, added,: “After a competitive bidding process, Digicel TCI is proud to be selected as the winner to become the primary telecommunications provider to the TCI Government for the next five years.
“Our solution will not only provide the Government with terrific value for money but also give it a state of the art platform to launch all of its e-Government and communications initiatives. We are confident that when we go live with these solutions that the Government and the public will immediately see the service and quality benefits already enjoyed by Digicel customers.”
