Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Government can cut paper cost by up to 75 per cent if it opts to utilise digital forms and online services. This was the estimate given to Parliament recently by General Affairs Minister/Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in response to enquiries from independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin-Romeo.
The reduction in paper usage will amount to between NAf. 400,000 and NAf. 600,000 annually.
Reduction of paper usage and related cost-cutting is already occurring in some departments, according to Gumbs and "should continue throughout government."
By implementing a voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) solution on the current ICT infrastructure, government could realise a savings of NAf. 4 million to NAf. 5 million.
Human error will be decreased by integrating the systems, creating efficiency and reducing waste, which will create savings. Saving categories are paper, manpower, less need for public service windows, consolidated support using same technology, cheaper maintenance and hardware consolidation and virtualisation.
There are 150 processes in government that produce output to residents. They are all supported by an ICT system and they require manpower, a system (maintenance) and paper.
By going digital, optimising and integrating the processes into a modular system, government estimates it will save NAf. 1.4 million yearly in licence fees and software maintenance cost, NAf. 3 million in manpower, NAf. 500,000 in hardware consolidation and NAf. 4 to 5 million in VOIP/Video Installation.
"These numbers are purely because the processes will be less cumbersome, no more connectivity issues, more online and less paper," Gumbs said.
The Public Service Center and Online Payments also will make the organisation more efficient, add quality of service and reduction in manpower hours. This also will result in savings and income generation.
"By sharing information and integrating systems, entities no longer will be able to hide or go under the radar, because relevant information for one department will connect to relevant information of the same entity in another system" he said.
