Government proposes bill to establish a State communications network

Government has proposed a bill on information technology to establish a network to protect the communications of the State to the Parliament today.

Presenting the bill to the Parliament on behalf of the government today, Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed said that purpose of the bill would be to bring about improvements in term of information technology, and thus, proposes to establish a State communications network and further policies to protect information exchanged within the different institutions of the State. The bill also stresses to establish new and simpler ways for the government to provide services via the internet to the different enterprises in the country.

“The proposition of this bill will improve the Maldives information technology sector. It will widen the work done through the internet, and will provide easier ways to obtain permits for businesses. A person in the islands has only to send an application through the internet, if he so wishes,” MP Riyaz Rasheed said, proposing the bill to the parliament floor today.

MP Riyaz also noted that the bill will grant certain mandates and responsibilities under legislation National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT). The institution currently does not hold a mandate delegated by legislation.

The bill requires the President to constitute a 5 member Information Technology Board within 1 month of the bill being ratified. The board will be mandated to seek ways to improve the Maldives information technology sector.