DICT staff rewarded for long service |15 December 2014

Sixteen members of staff who have been working for the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT) since it was set up 10 years ago have been rewarded for their loyal service.

This was during a ceremony held on Thursday afternoon at National House and attended by Vice-President Danny Faure, who is also responsible for Public Administration, among other guests.

During the ceremony guests were able to retrace the DICT’s progress through a video and Vice-President Faure and the DICT’s principal secretary Benjamin Choppy cut an anniversary cake to mark the occasion.

Addressing the awardees and guests Vice-President Faure said today we are honouring 16 loyal and long-serving employees, who come from all levels of the department and without whom the organisation would not be where it is today.

“Today, the Department of ICT or DICT as it is more commonly known, has grown to be a mature, respected and experienced organisation that can be counted on to deliver on its functions and roles within government,” he said.

Vice-President Faure pointed out that 10 years is not a long time in an organisation’s existence but it is an important milestone nevertheless for the DICT which has achieved much in that time, either directly or indirectly, by working through partners.

He noted that the achievements of the DICT are many but to name some of the more visible ones that it has contributed in include the electronic government programme, the first optic fibre submarine cable, the UN Award for e-government it received in 2012, the movement to 7 digit phone number, the high ranking of the country’s ICT Development Index (IDI) in the region, the integrated e-service gateway, the introduction of m-service for government services, the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) of government which allows digital signatures, the introduction of electronic payment for government services, the introduction of ever more advanced telecommunications infrastructure such as the recently launched 4G service and the increasing range of e-services that are coming into service on a yearly basis.

“The introduction and efficient administration of the government’s laptop scheme for students by the DICT is also one which has been very successful and that I have no doubt will contribute to not only supporting students in their studies but also help increase the penetration of internet in the homes of Seychellois,” VP Faure said.

He stressed that the DICT would not have been able to achieve so much in so short a time had it not been for its people. A fact echoed by Mr Choppy, who said the group of 16 individuals who have been part of the DICT journey from the start represents almost one-third of the total workforce of the department.

“It is indeed a significant percentage of the workforce which has such long service record and I have no doubt that they have contributed to the organisation’s institutional memory, continuity of practice and to the development of the organisational culture of the DICT. A culture which values hard work, technical knowledge and knowhow, teamwork and above all an unflinching determination and commitment to attaining the targets of the organisation,” Mr Choppy said.  

Furthermore he pointed out that when it started 10 years ago the DICT inherited a lot from a number of organisations which existed before it namely the former MISD (Management Information Services Division) and the Telecommunications Division from the Ministry of Finance and building on this inheritance has made the DICT one of the oldest and most experienced regulators in the country.

“It also has a proven track record of technical competence as demonstrated by the number of information systems operating throughout the whole of government today,” Mr Choppy pointed out.

He congratulated and thanked the long serving awardees and called on them to remain committed and dedicated to the department, trusting that their example will inspire the rest of the team.