Castries Tuesday December 11th, 2012  Dominica's Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister responsible for Information Communication Technology, Hon. Kelver Darroux says Dominica ranked high in the world UN E-government Ranking for 2012.  He says the island had the highest improvement in E-government rankings from 2010 to 2012.Mr. Darroux revelaed the information during the Opening Ceremony of the Electronic Government for Regional Integration Project (EGRIP) Capacity Building and Training Workshops recently held in the Commonwealth of Dominica. The OECS Secretariat's E-Government for Regional Integration Project (EGRIP) coordinated the workshops.

The Government Enterprise Architecture Capacity Building Workshop was held on December 5th to 7th 2012 and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Total Cost of Ownership Management and Investment Practices Capacity Building Workshop runs  from December 10th to 14th, 2012.

Participants are key stakeholders with responsibility for information and communications technology from six EGRIP participating countries within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

 Mr. Darroux said significant developments across all technology sectors have created greater opportunities for all governments to deliver high quality services with ease. He mentioned that information and technology complementing each other are crucial forinformed and accurate strategic decision making. Darroux highlighted that the Government of Dominica has been creating an enabling environment for the adoption of E-government over the past few years with increasing success.

The EGRIP Project Manager, Ms. Karlene Francis, noted that training is provided on the framework of total cost of ownership, analysis and optimization and also a framework for government enterprise architecture. Benefits include the provision of standards, solutions and services across government, a context for decision making and the assistance to ministries, departments and agencies to develop ICT capabilities. The frameworks also facilitates the measurement of the viability of any capital investment in ICT projects undertaken by government. Ms. Francis emphasized that the workshops provide knowledge and skills to the stakeholders to help determine and communicate the total cost of ICT investments and the related economic, financial and social benefits. "The expected outcome of the workshops is that the participants will be adequately trained so that they can utilize the GEA and TCO frameworks to improve the ICT Management and investment practices at the national level. Additionally, these are Train the Trainer Workshops. Therefore the participants are expected to train and share the knowledge gained with other public sector workers." 

PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax and Advisory Services, Jamaica, Donovan Fraser, highlighted that some of the projected outcomes of the framework include better coordination between agencies, improved efficiency of public service delivery and increased transparency among others.The workshops are designed to be practical with lectures, examples and exercises to provide skills, encourage participation and exchange information.The Governments of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines have each received soft loan financing in an amount equivalent to US$2.4 Million, from the World Bank, for implementation of the OECS Electronic Government for Regional Integration Project (EGRIP). The loans are provided under a special facility of the concessional lending arm of the World Bank, the International Development Association (IDA). Additionally, a US$2.5 Million Technical Assistance grant was secured from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the four IDA funded countries and also expanded the project to include Antigua & Barbuda and St. Kitts & Nevis.