Working Group and led its transition to the Interim CIO Council and now CIO Council. Members include senior-level ICT professionals from the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications, Liberia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Cable Consortium of Liberia, Ministry of Health, General Audit Commission, Ministry of Education, National Elections Commission, Ministry of Agriculture, Liberia Telecommunications Authority, Liberia Telecommunications Corporation and Ministry of State - President’s Delivery Unit. Digital Liberia assists with change management, project management, and capacity development support, as a necessary step to help the Council to understand and perform its role. In FY 2019 the Council, in collaboration with Digital Liberia, completed a three-month CIO training program for 46 IT heads and practitioners from 30 MACs to build the senior level capacity in MACs for implementation of e-Government initiatives. Digital Liberia considers the CIO Council critical to the sustainability of ICT activities. Broader connectivity Digital Liberia provided support to the broader USAID Connectivity portfolio by providing support to MoPT and Alliance for Affordable Internet to revise and finalize the ICT Policy. Digital Liberia held 2 workshops with MOPT to develop a resource mobilization plan for the approved GoL ICT policy. MOPT has taken ownership of this process activity, leading the sector to organize a stakeholder meeting where industry players and stakeholders, including the private sector, engaged in discussions around the above outlined four pillars of the resource mobilization plan. The Ministry is also making plans to refresh the e-Government Strategy (2019-2024) to align with the new ICT policy. Metro fiber provider - CSquared In 2016, USAID entered an agreement with CSquared, a private sector company that builds metro fiber and Wi-fi networks in Africa, to provide approximately 200 km of secure fiber around Monrovia, to the port and University of Liberia Fendall campus about 30 km from Monrovia. Digital Liberia nurtured the relationship and liaison role between CSquared, MOPT and Libtelco. The project facilitated meetings with MOPT and Libtelco to agree on roles and responsibilities as well as to resolve relationship challenges. PROJECT PURPOSE AND SCOPE The Digital Liberia and Electronic Government (eGov) Activity (henceforth referred to as “Digital Liberia”) was funded by the USAID Global Development Lab (the Lab), in collaboration with USAID/Liberia. The program intended to build on the momentum started both before and during the Ebola crisis to strengthen the Government of Liberia’s (GOL) Information and Communications Technology capacity and improve connectivity to better prepare the GOL to prevent, detect, and respond to potential future health crises. The three-and-a-half-year activity, which began in October 2016, was implemented by two contractors – Chemonics International and IBI – with each firm responsible for one of the objectives and Chemonics providing overall coordination. Digital Liberia worked to improve government’s performance and bring government closer to citizens by assisting it to develop its internet and computer technology capability. This was achieved through provision of technical assistance to help improve the connectivity and institutional capacity necessary to provide effective services. The Activity also sought to increase sustainable utilization of ICT related systems, processes, and procedures at targeted Ministries, Agencies and Commission to improve government decision making and management. By supporting the capacity development of government internet services provision, the Activity worked to extend inter-agency connectivity. IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH Recognizing the challenges in creating a sustainable ICT culture, Digital Liberia relied on the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) process to break down the complex problem of poor connectivity in DIGITAL LIBERIA FINAL REPORT | 5