The Department will be strategically focused on utilizing ICT to allow the provision of services in five main areas: a. ICT Consulting and Project Management across the Public Sector including Ministries, Departments, Divisions and Agencies; b. Establishment and maintenance of public sector wide ICT infrastructure; c. Negotiation and execution of enterprise wide ICT contracts that ensure cost-effective interoperability across Government; d. Delivery of e-Government services; and e. Business Transformation within Public Service. Currently there exists a Central Information Technology Office (CITO) that performs, to a limited extent, some of these functions. The Government will expand the mandate given to CITO and empower it to perform these additional functions under this new governance structure. CITO will be rebranded, giving consideration to its new mandate, as the Central Information Technology Department. 2. Establishment of Key Support Expert Working Groups The Government will establish the following working groups to support CITO: a. IT Networking & Security Forum The IT Network & Security Forum will comprise of Senior IT technical and network security experts from the various Ministries and private sector. Their main function is to coordinate the technical aspects of the Government’s integrated infrastructure, exchanging information and experiences related to the management operation and ongoing development of the GovNet. This group will ensure the interoperability and integration of core systems and applications within Government. Additionally the group will be tasked with identifying areas of risk and mitigating actions, conducting periodic security audits, and ensuring the resiliency of the network. b. E-Government Strategy & Capacity Development Round Table This group will comprise of senior ICT Government Officials, senior private sector ICT leaders and academia to function as a pool of expertise available to provide advice on the development, advancement and implementation of new and existing e-Government initiatives. The group will also make recommendations on the process of enterprise-wide architecture and its continued deployment, usage and upgrade and identify areas within individual Ministries and State. The group will also be tasked with promoting human capital development in the field of ICT within Ministries and State Agencies by making recommendations for the acquisition of identified and agreed to skills which will be required to support the Government’s increased levels of ICT-adoption and demand. In cases where additional expert advice is required, the Roundtable will engage external parties or stakeholders including but not limited to private sector organisations/ individuals, NGO’s and so on. 24