Tradenet, now renamed Maldives Innovation and Digital Company Limited, has drafted a bill to allocate a percentage of the national budget for maintaining government service platforms.
On January 20, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu) moved to present the platform’s parent company, Tradenet Maldives, to Parliament, citing concerns over the lack of participation by some agencies in the 'oneGov' network.
The State Owned Enterprises Committee of Parliament met with Tradenet to clarify the matter.
In its letter to Kudu, Parliament quoted Tradenet as stating that the biggest challenge in linking state agencies to oneGov is the lack of a comprehensive legal framework.
To address this, Tradenet said a draft bill has been prepared to establish the legal basis for providing services through platforms such as oneGov. The draft has been sent to the ministries responsible for the platform for review.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launches the 'oneGov' platform on July 10, 2023. (Photo/President's Office)
According to information shared with the committee by Tradenet, as of July 8, 15 agencies were onboarded and providing services via oneGov. Two of these agencies are offering partial services, while four are working to get on board this year.
The company also noted that no law currently requires agencies to participate in oneGov to deliver public services. It added that government institutions are strengthening existing portals or developing new applications to provide services online.
Tradenet emphasized the importance of further developing specialized applications and portals for service delivery by government agencies, particularly systems for back office processing.
According to Tradenet, the draft bill on government service platforms includes provisions to:
Designate oneGov as the main platform for delivering government services  
Grant the platform operator legal status to collect fees from users  
Allocate a percentage of the national budget to maintain core service platforms  
Define the operation and management structure of the platform
The bill was drafted in 2023 and sent to the Home Ministry and Economic Affairs Ministry last year.
According to the President’s Office, the company was renamed by Presidential Decree as the government’s technology and innovation entity tasked with implementing the Maldives 2.0 Roadmap 2025 - 2028 - Journey to Digital Transformation.