Ministry of Communications and Information Technology inks contract of Digital CASA Project the with World Bank

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed Digital CASA Afghanistan Project worth $51m with the World Bank on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

DIGITAL CASA AFGHANISTAN is a five years project, which aims to increase access to more affordable Internet, attracting private investment in the sector and improve the government’s technical capacity to deliver digital Government services in Afghanistan.

The project is divided in to three main components as below;

1.      Component 1: Regional and Domestic Connectivity:

Through this component government of Afghanistan is planning to Pre-purchase the International Bandwidth which will significantly reduce the cost and will improve quality service delivery. MCIT through this project will also work to connect the remaining provinces to complete the optical fiber backbone connectivity. The government of Afghanistan will also work on installation of a Government Network (GovNet) that will provide secured broadband connectivity to targeted Government offices in center, provincial offices, selected schools, hospitals, universities, research institutions, post offices, and the ICT institute, among others.

This project will also enable Ministry of Communication & IT to strengthen and facilitate internet exchange among the CASA countries to enable faster exchange of Internet traffic between the countries and, thereby, to the broader international networks.

2.      Component 2: Pave a way to e-Government;

This project will further enhance Ministry of Communication & IT to establish and improve the Shared e-Government Infrastructure and Common e-Service Enablers. Ministry of Communication & IT is planning to established Government Cloud and DRDC for hosting Government data and e-services. This will pave a path for establishing a set of common e-service enablers such as online authentication, e-payment gateway, SMS gateway, and cyber security safeguards, to accelerate e-services implementation by line ministries.

This project will further enhance the capacity of the ASAN KHEDMAT established back in 2016. ASAN kHEDMAT aims to bring a variety of Government services under one roof, in a physical location accessible to citizens. This may include around 46 services such as birth registration, marriage registration, visa application, passport application and etc.

3.      Component 3: Enabling Environment for private sector investment and development;

The Governments of Afghanistan prioritize the private sector development in the country. This component focuses on review and assessment of existing ICT policies, strategies, standards, legal and regulatory frameworks to identify existing gaps and weaknesses as well as harmonization with regional commitments and frameworks to attract private sector investment and encourage the existing investors to further invest in this sector.