The Ministry of ICT & National Guidance has launched an Addressing System which will be used to not only ease service delivery, but also spur business and e-commerce for Ugandans.
The system was launched by Hon. Judith Nabakooba the Minister for ICT AND National guidance who noted that it has been facilitated by President Yoweri Museveni who guided government to set up an Innovation Fund for Young Entrepreneurs.
She added that the Ministry of ICT/NG carried out a competitive process and identified credible young Ugandans who were given financial assistance to develop practical IT solutions.
“A number of IT applications have been tested and are being used country-wide. One such application is the Addressing Systelll which our young entrepreneurs developed in collaboration with Posta Uganda. The Addressing System has various capabilities because it gives real-time connectivity. Posta Uganda has used the System to connect 49 out of 108 offices country-wide, thereby enabling quick and reliable exchange of information” the minister revealed.
Adding that, the System has enabled on-line creation and management of Post Office Addresses (previously called P.O. Box Numbers) thereby easing fulfilment of the national law on registration of companies and lately, filing annual returns. Under Sections 115 and 116 of the Companies Act, it is a requirement for all companies to acquire and declare valid P.O. Box addresses prior to registration in Uganda.
“I am guided that the same requirement has been extended to filing of annual returns at the national agency, URSB. This was difficult to enforce previously, because the Post Office had only about 80,000 physical addresses, which were fixed on the walls. With digitization, the Post Office now has capacity to offer limitless addresses” Nabakooba clarified.
The minister says that to date, Posta Uganda has already created 1,050 digital addresses, and registration is continuing all over the country. The System has also enabled on-line payment, renewal, and amendment of owner's particulars in case there is a change in the composition of Directors of a company. “This is a significant milestone under the government's goal of "ease of doing business", and I want to use this opportunity to thank both Posta Uganda and CITZ the young entrepreneurs for their dedication.”
She added that “with the implementation of this System and connecting many Post Offices, I want to invite public agencies to tap into this government infrastructure to improve on their service delivery. The System has been tested and found to be secure.”