National Information and Communications Technology Policy 3.4 E-Services and Local Content Development 3.4.1 Issue: Electronic Services The use of electronic services to facilitate provision of social and economicservices such as tourism, governance, education, health, finance and justice has significantly increased in recent years and the industry has witnessed advancement in the area of Information Technology Enabled Services/ Business Process Outsourcing (ITES/ BPO). Most public institutions have progressively been establishing electronic systems to enhance efficiency and productivity and the use of ITES/ BPO is taking a good and promising pace. ITES/ BPO is renowned as a new area of interest in the sector due to its potential for job creation. Despite these achievements, it is evident that there exist challenges such as fragmentation of resources and non-interoperability of systems between institutions; high importation of software at considerable cost which in turn affect local innovation and development of software for internal consumption. ITES/ BPO suffers from inadequate competence and investment from both public and private sectors. 3.4.1.1 Policy Objective To promote a competitive ITES/ BPO industry and development of electronic services in all aspects of ICT value chain activities 3.4.1.2 Policy Statements The Government shall:i) Be a model user of ICT to improve efficiency in service delivery, reduce waste, enhance planning, raise the quality of services and access to global resources; ii) Strengthen institutions responsible for coordinating, providing oversight, regulating, promoting and enforcement of e-government and other e-services initiatives; iii) Create an enabling environment that nurtures the promotion and development of ITES/BPO ventures in partnership with public and private sector. 27