TECH-SAVVY: PSC chairperson Salmaan Jacobs. PHOTO: Public Service Commission
TECH-SAVVY: PSC chairperson Salmaan Jacobs. PHOTO: Public Service Commission

PSC pushes for digitalisation

STAFF REPORTER
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has lamented the current manual management of human resources and administration because it “results in misplacement of documents", adding that "there are other challenges such as delays in service delivery”.

“Human resource matters must be automated to speed up management of cases coming to the commission for recommendation, and through automation, staff data could be consolidated so that information on all staff members are easily accessible,” PSC chairperson Salmaan Jacobs said.

He made the remarks during the Africa Public Service Day commemorations held in Windhoek yesterday under the theme ‘Empowering a citizen-centric public service for an inclusive and thriving 21st century Africa: A journey of lifelong learning and technological transformation’.

Jacobs underscored the need to speed up the E-Governance and digitalisation drive across the public service.

“Changing citizenry, complexity and technology are the three most prominent pressures faced by countries globally. However, the conditions on the ground are such that developing countries are experiencing far more capability constraints than their developed counterparts, which - in turn - affect the type of skills needed by public servants to meet the 21st century challenges head on.”

He said there is a need to strengthen the public service, professionalise it and build capacity to respond to modern-day challenges.

SADC forum

Namibia’s PSC recently attended a meeting in South Africa where the public service commissions of SADC countries discussed the possibility of establishing a SADC Forum of Public Service Commissions.

The forum will create a platform for the commissions to share expertise and information, and host exchange programmes.

According to Jacobs: “We agreed at that meeting to work together to set up the forum where we could share information, learn from one another, safeguard the provisions of the constitution and relevant laws that make these commissions independent and impartial".

"And [we agreed] to interrogate whether the public service has the capacity and the agility to operate under all conditions and different types of governments, with technological challenges and disasters facing the SADC region, the continent and the world at large,” he said.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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