National ICT Strategic Plan Government of St Kitts and Nevis E-Government The credibility of any ICT policy is to a large extent dependent on the government sector's own efforts toward an effective deployment and use of these technologies. To accomplish EGovernment, the Government should undertake the following steps z Design and implement a stepwise programme for installing computer networks in public administration agencies and related training of all civil servants with a view to supporting the deployment of Government-to-Government and Government-to-Public systems, including E-procurement, and electronic transactions through Intranets, Extranets and Internet sites. Priority may be given to transactions between businesses and public administration. z Set up web-based resources providing basic official information for the citizens of OECS countries, especially information related to main circumstances of life. z Set up web-based services and other appropriate electronic resources (e.g. CD Rom versions of the web sites) providing practical information and advice on natural disaster preparedness and emergency situations in conjunction with alert and rescue programmes. z Establish a country portal providing basic information about the country, its administrative organisation, investment and migration regulations and procedures, etc, targeted at economic partners and customers in other countries. z Establish a phased programme with a view to allowing for electronic payment to the public administration. Public-Private Partnerships Ultimately, it is the private sector that must generate the business activity that establishes and maintains economic growth and improves the living standards of the citizens. In view of the extensive transformation that ICT use calls for, the market structure and enterprises' size may present obstacles until ICTs have become commonplace. Since the objective is to be among the early adopters rather than laggards, targeted support is required. To that end Government should Ministry of Finance, Sustainable Development, Information and Technology November, 2006 6