ISP Assistants

Background

The Government of Afghanistan has obtained support from the World Bank or International Development Agency (IDA) for an ICT Sector Development Project which aims to expand broadband connectivity, mainstream use of mobile applications across the Government and develop the capacity of the IT sector to facilitate improved service delivery across Afghanistan while accelerating job creation and economic growth.   The project will do so by: (a) Creating the enabling environment and making strategic investments for the development of Afghanistan’s backbone and broadband infrastructure; (b) Supporting the mainstreaming of mobile applications across Government by supporting innovations and creation of cross cutting enablers; and (c) Developing local IT infrastructure and capacity in the public and private sectors.

The Project has a centralized management structure.  The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is the implementing agency for the project. MCIT is implementing a number of sectoral projects funded by the government and other development partners. To manage its portfolio of investment projects better, MCIT has established a Program Implementation and Coordination Unit (PICU) that the Deputy Minister (Technical) of MCIT chairs. The Directors of the Planning and Policy Department and IT Department are the core members of the PICU. The Finance and Procurement Directorates of MCIT provide support to the PICU. This is to ensure further strengthening and sustainability of program management capacity that has been developed over the last few years within MCIT.

Core financial management and procurement functions for the project are handled by the respective departments within MCIT.  A Project Management Office (PMO) supports MCIT in implementation of the IDA project. PMO includes a Project Management Specialist, Financial Management and Procurement support, Communications Specialist, support for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Social and Environmental Safeguard functions, as required.   This PMO is part of the established PICU.

Under the Project, MCIT is running Innovations Support Program to create Innovations Culture in the Country. Awards are being given for innovative Ideas, Solutions and for other contributions to the growth of ICT Sector of the Country. These Awards are given for promoting m-Technology and m-Governance, under the guidelines given in the Operational Manual as approved by the World Bank.