Government decision makers and industry experts meeting at the “E-Payment for Government Summit ” are set to examine the global and regional developments on how governments are transforming key services they provide and returns from the public.
Entitled “Increasing Government Revenue Generation using E-Payment Services”, the two-day forum set to hold on the 8th – 9th of July, 2014 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, is organized by the Electronic Payment Providers of Association (E-PPAN).
The Summit is aimed at tackling the challenges that face governments in generation of revenue and delivering efficient e-services to a technology savvy and demanding public.
The summit will bring together industry experts, professionals and key government bodies responsible for development of e-government in the country.
They will shed more light on how to implement the most technological advances and solutions in the most efficient ways for enhancement of government services as well as to drive the efficiency of the G2P (Government to People) services through e-payment platforms.
Mrs. Onajite Regha, chief executive officer of E-PPAN, stressed the importance of the summit as it will provide the important decision-makers delegates with the sufficient enthusiasm needed for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to increase Internal Revenue.
This in turn will further drive the adoption and implementation procedures for an end-to-end e-payment as well as support the attainment of the core objectives of the National Payment Systems Vision 2020, which is to ensure the availability of safe and effective mechanisms for conveniently making and receiving all types of payment from any location and at any time, through multiple channels.
“According to Central Bank of Nigeria, only 209 MDAs out of over 600 have fully complied with Federal Government’s directive that all payments MDAs should be made electronically” explained Regha.
She added: “The E-Payment for Government Summit has received overwhelming responses. Experts speaking at the forum are from prominent Industry stakeholders, federal and regional government authorities, network and technology providers and consultants specialized in e-Government initiatives”.
The E-PPAN Boss pointed out that the forum opens with discussions on the global trends in expanding internally generated revenue using e-payment, and goes on to highlight several vital topics including: Leveraging on strategic private partnerships in expanding government payment Citizen Happiness.
She described this as the Formula for Government Success, Automating disbursement and collection process for efficient revenue management, Creating Additional values on e-payment to drive citizen’s excitement, Identifying the role of citizen identification as a driver for revenue generation and delivering outstanding e-services to the public.
In addition to discussions on the methods of developing a secured payment platform for government bodies, reviewing the state of infrastructure, establishing a higher citizen-centered approach to e-Government portals, creating an effective e-Governance strategy to align government activity with citizen demands and the method of examining e-Governance and Information Security from an international perspective.
The executive secretary lauded the efforts and continuous support the summit has received from various industry stakeholders and government bodies, and their keenness in participating to share their expertise and pioneering work in e-government, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), Unified Payment Services, iTEX integrated Services, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and CitiSERVE.
Speaking on the Summit, Mrs Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology said: “We are pleased to collaborate with E-PPAN on this summit, as it provides a valuable platform to exchange local and regional experiences in the fields of technology. We welcome and encourage all top government delegates from federal and state MDAs and local government councils to participate in the event, as we are certain that their participation will enrich the discussions and contribute to the success of the summit.”