IT project to aid Afghans

TALLINN - The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Foreign Ministry is supporting the project of the e-Governance Academy through which an electronic information system is being created for the Parliament of Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that using a modern system will make the work of the Afghan parliament more trustworthy, transparent and effective. “These characteristics are requirements for developing the national order and gaining the trust of the people,” asserted the foreign minister.

“One of the very important steps in building up a state is strengthening the activities of institutions and establishing transparent standards of government. Estonia’s experience shows that the skilled use of information technology improves the efficiency and transparency of government,” explained Paet, adding that Estonia is happy to share its IT-related experiences with Afghanistan.

Within the framework of the project of the e-Governance Academy Foundation, an electronic voting, attendance registration and speech system will be developed and implemented in the two houses of Afghanistan’s parliament. The system being created will include speech and voting consoles, user authentication using fingerprints, screens and monitors for displaying information, and the supporting information system. Since there is currently no voting system in the Afghan parliament, voting takes place using red and green slips of paper.

The entire information system is being created through the international procurement procedure being prepared at the e-Governance Academy. The creation of the electronic information system will be preceded by an analysis carried out by the Academy to determine the needs of the Afghan parliament.
“These characteristics are requirements for developing the national order and gaining people’s trust,” Paet said. “Estonia’s experience shows that the skilled use of information technology improves the government’s efficiency and transparency.”

Afghanistan is one of Estonia’s development cooperation priority partners. Estonia currently has 155 soldiers serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. According to the Foreign Ministry, the project will cost 33,000 euros.