The Maldivian government on Sunday partnered with Microsoft - one of the world's leading multinational technology company, in a bid to improve the country's technology sector.
The partnership came in the form of a 5-year agreement between the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT), Microsoft and Maxcom Technologies.
It was signed by finance ministry’s State Minister, Mohamed Ashmalee, on behalf of NCIT, Sales Lead Public Sector at Microsoft Sri Lanka, Poojitha Rajapakse, and by Maxcom Technology's Director, Business Development and Finance, Ibrahim Firushan, during a ceremony held at Kurumba Maldives.
Speaking to the press, Mohamed Ashmalee said that several technological initiatives are laid out under the agreement. These initiatives include the opportunity to manufacture ISO-certified software for the state and government institutions at affordable prices; train over 3,000 employees to manage computer networking in offices; obtain affordable software licenses; as well as obtain some of the software relevant in the country's education sector for free.
He noted that some of the government offices, in the past, had purchased software licenses on their own accord, resulting in high or varying prices. In this vein, he said that the agreement will enable all government offices to spend about MVR 18 million annually for the purchase of Microsoft’s projects.
NCIT had also laid out details of five programmes planned for the centre. They include the establishment of an Integrated E-Government System, formulation of ICT guidelines, infrastructure development, usage of ICT for sustainable social and economic development, as well as training.