aal rort july 2017...message from director general it is with great pride and accomplishment that i...

July 2017- June 2018

Department of Information Technology and TelecomMinistry of Information and Communications

Royal Government of Bhutan

AnnuAl RepoRt

MessaGe fRoM DIReCToR GeneRal

It is with great pride and accomplishment that I present to you the Depart-ment’s annual ICT report. This report highlights many notable achieve-ments. I am proud to celebrate these achievements and continued progress in the pursuit of improved program, plans and activities towards our effort to create ICT enabled knowledge based society.

The development of ICT sector in the country has come a long way since its initial introduction in the year 2000. Ever Since, there is increasingly ex-pectation of development both in term of ICT infrastructure and the services. This year has been incredibly active year for the Department with more than 14 major programs implemented. The programs cover various areas of providing basic ICT infrastructure, platform and environment for application development, facilitate quality telecom services and satellite service, man-agement of ICT professionals in the civil service, offer enabling business environment for FDIs in ICT sector and increase promotion, awareness and digital literacy across the country.

As the Director General of the Department, I take great pride in our col-leagues who have worked hard and displayed professionalism. As you read the report, I hope you will gain insight into the breadth and depth of our activities.

I would also like to thank Hon’ble Minister and Hon’ble Secretary of the Min-istry of Information and Communications for the strong commitment, sup-port and guidance for the progress the department has made.

Thanking you,

(Jigme Thinlye Namgyal)

aCknowleDGeMenT

The Department would like to express great appreciation and gratitude to the following organizations for the support extended to allow the Department to achieve its vision and take a step closer to becoming a Digital society. We would also like to apologise if we have missed any of our stakeholders.

» Government Data Center- Government of India(GoI), RGoB agencies and BtCIRT

» Druk Research and Education Network- Bhutan Telecom, MoH and RUB

» Satellite Communications- BICMA, BBS, TELCOS, ISRO, MFA and KyuTech

» National ePayment Gateway Infrastructure- RMA, G2C and Banks » Government Intranet System- RGoB agencies, Bhutan Power

Corporation (BPC) and ISPs » National Enterprise Architecture - RGoB agencies and Thimphu

TechPark Ltd (TTPL) » e-Gov Policy- ICT heads of agencies and RGoB agencies » Implementation of Telecommunication & Broadband Policy- ICT

Heads,BICMA, ISPs, RGoB agencies » National Broadband Masterplan Implementation Project- BPC,

Tashi InfoComm Ltd., Bhutan Telecom, DrukCom, NANO » ICT Industry Development- BICTTA, MoLHR, DoI/DoT/MoEA,

MoF, Thimphu TechPark Ltd. (TTPL), BITC, World Bank, DoI/MoHCA,GNHC,FDI companies in TTPL, ISPs and techstarts

» G Suite (formerly Google Apps) for Government: RGoB agencies » BtCIRT: Ministries, Agencies, Dzongkhags, ISPs, Financial

Institutes, APCERT, FIRST, APNIC, EU(European Union), TEIN*CC(Trans-Eurasia Information Network* Corporation Center) , Asi@Connect Project.

» ICT capacity building program- Thimphu TechPark Ltd.,Institute of Information Technology and Management, Sri Lanka CERT, Institute of Management and Asia Pacific Telecommunity

» Restructuring/clustering of ICT Division- All ICT Professionals, Secretariats of Ministries, RCSC, Gelephu Thromde, Mongar Dzongkhag Administration, Regional offices in Gelephu and Mongar, DRC, MoEA, MoAF and MoH

» Government Data Hub Platform-DCRC/MoHCA, Road Safety and Transport Authority/MoIC, G2C Office and Cabinet Secretariat

» National Techstar Start Weekend- College of Science and Technology, College of Natural Resources, Gaeddu College of Business Studies, Royal Thimphu College,Sherubtse College, College of Language and Cultural Studies, Jigme Namgyel Engineering College

Background 1

Organogram 2

Significant New Initiatives at Glance 3

» ICT Parenting System 3

» Career Progression Framework 4

» eGov Policy Principle 5

» Government Data Center 6

» Gov Net 7

Financial Progress for 2017-18 8

ICT Infrastructure 9

Major Projects 10

Achievements 11

Challenges 21

Highlights 24

Year Ahead 34

Annexure 1: National Fiber Network Map 35

Annexure 2: Impact of Capacity building initiatives 36

TaBle of ConTenTs

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

0809

10

11

12

sl.no

Annual Report July 2017-June 2018 1

BaCkGRounD

The Department of Information Technology and Telecom (DITT), under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), Royal Government of Bhutan is the lead Department for promoting information and communica-tion technology (ICT) in the country as an enabler of national development. It ensures creation of an enabling environment for ICT sector through:

» Establishment and improvement of ICT infrastructure throughout the country

» Formulation of legislations, policies and standards for conducive ICT environment

» Advancement of capacity and capability of ICT professionals throughout the civil service for growth and career enhancement

» Inculcating ICT culture throughout the nation through promotion, awareness and adoption of ICT

» Improvement of ICT business environment for ICT industry growth and investment into the country

» Determining appropriate technologies and systems suitable to unique Bhutanese conditions

» Facilitating promotion of good governance and shared national consciousness through the use of ICT

» Development of sustainable and affordable ICT facilities and ser-vices for all Bhutanese to improve their living standard.

Department of Information Technology & Telecom2

oRGanoGRaM

There are 63 staffs in the Department headed by Director General. The De-partment has 5 divisions lead by Chief ICT officers. The table 1 presents the divisions of staff in the Department.

Table 1. Division of staffs in the Department

Director General

aDministrative unit

applicationDivision

infrastructureDivision

promotion Division

Division of telecom & space

ict manaGement Division

Sl.No Division/Section StrengthRegular Contract

1 Administration Unit 8 12 Application 11 53 Infrastructure 13 34 Promotion 3 15 ICT Management Division 5 26 Division of Telecom & Space 11 0

TOTAL 51 12


sIGnIfICanT new InITIaTIves aT GlanCe

ict parenting systemThe Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) approved the formation of ICT Parenting Framework for ICT Professionals in 2009. The Department of Information Technology & Telecom (DITT) in collaboration with International Development Agency (IDA), Singapore developed the ICT Parenting frame-work through Temasek Foundation funding.

The principles of this framework is aligned to the Parenting structure, pro-vided by the RCSC, and are complementary to their structure and policy.

The objectives of the parenting initiatives are as follows:

a. To set a standard ICT HR requirement for all Ministries/Agencies/ Dzongkhags.

b. To facilitate innovation and optimal usage of the competencies of ICT professionals.

c. To align career tracks for all ICT officials based on their competen-cies, talent and aptitude.

d. To put in place a mechanism that promotes effective monitoring and evaluation system, career progression system, training needs as-sessment system, and a fair and transparent HR management sys-tem.

e. To oversee development of capacity of ICT professionals and en-hance competencies, skills and career progression based on best practices.


career progression frameworkThe conceptual framework for career progression system (Figure 1) covers both technical and management aspects of career progression. ICT officer’s entry level is at P5 while the entry level for ICT associate is S2. The Assis-tant ICT officers shall gradually progress to specialist at P1 (ES) and ICT as-sociates at S2 level will progress up to P3 level. At every level the official will be provided with competency development opportunities according to their planned career path. However, their competency will be evaluated before they rise to next level. Upon evaluation, if they have acquired the required skills set for the next level, they will be moved up or else they will be trained again. This loop will continue until the official is competent enough to prog-ress to the next level. Along the path, the performance and talent of the ICT officials will also be recorded and rated to contribute towards their overall weightage. All Chief ICT officers will be specifically trained and groomed to be leaders.

CaRe

eR M

anaG

eMen

T

Tale

nT M

anaG

eMen

T

leaR

nInG

& C

aPaC

ITY

Deve

loPM

enT

PeRf

oRMa

nCe

Mana

GeMe

nT

TRaInInG

ICT M

anag

emen

tTRaInInG

neeD

neeD

level 4: Multi-tasking of ICT functions

level 5: Basic trouble shooting

all new entrants will be posted to Dzongkhags

-networking -security analysis

-software Development

-system analysis

ICT Management

enTRY


e-Government policyThe government has initiated numerous ICT initiatives to improve the deliv-ery of public services. However, the use of ICT in government agencies is confined to agencies working in isolation. The lack of proper coordination for the implementations of such ICT initiatives has resulted in duplication of effort and wastage of scarce resources.

The e-Government policy is expected to provide clear guidance for imple-mentation of e-Government initiatives in the country. In addition, the policy will enable government to fully leverage on existing and emerging ICTs to increase competitiveness, enhance productivity, improve service delivery and strengthen good governance in pursuit of Gross National Happiness. The main objective of the policy is to provide clear guidance during the implementation of e-Government initiatives in the country. The specific ob-jectives are as follows:

1. Ensure all government services are made online where possible;

2. Ensure online government services are accessible, to all individuals including people with disabilities; efficient; secure; and sustainable;

3. Ensure robust delivery of online public services through a holistic approach to reduce redundancy of ICT initiatives through consolidation and reuse;

4. Ensure adoption of ICT Standards and enable the use of emerging technologies;

5. Ensure confidentiality and privacy of citizens are protected to increase trust in online services.

5Annual Report July 2017-June 2018 5


Government Data center

The Government Data Centre (GDC) fulfils the principle need felt by the government to house critical RGoB systems and data with high standards of security and network reliability. The GDC located in the Thimphu Tech Park Ltd. (TTP) equipped with high-end networking, cooling systems and telecom resilience facilities.

Consolidation of all G2C services and other notable IT services (web portal, digital archives) in the GDC will help the government to better manage ICT development confining to E-GIF standards, introduction of newer ICT tech-nologies and capacity development leading to specialization.


Govnet

Government Network (GovNet) consist of Thimphu-Wide Area Network (WAN), 20 Dzongkhag-WANs, Gewog Network and 3 Thromde-WANs. The network roll out first started with establishment of Thimphu-WAN built on mesh optical fiber network connecting 96 odd agencies in Thimphu in year 2007. The network provides a dedicated high speed and secure Intranet connectivity between the Government head offices/agencies and Govern-ment Data Center located in the capital for improved public service deliv-ery. Thimphu-WAN has been extended to all 20 Dzongkhag Administration Offices and Community Centers piggybacking on national optical fiber net-work. Today, most of the critical online services such as G2G, G2C, G2B, videoconference services and other applications are delivered through this network. Currently, GovNet has established Gewog optical fiber Network built on 21 Centralized Systems all over the country to connect all government offices in Dzongkhags (including Dungkhag Administration Offices, Gewog Admin-istration Offices, Community Centers, Renewal Natural Resources Centers, Basic Health Units, Schools and etc.) and 3 Thromde optical fiber WANs in Gelephu, Phuntsholing Thromdes and Samdrup Jongkhar to connect all government offices that are in these Thromdes.

7Annual Report July 2017-June 2018 7


fInanCIal PRoGRess of DITT foR The YeaR JulY 2017-June 2018

Budget Allocation Nu. 234.16Annual spending Nu. 201.993

Figure 1.Budget allocation and spending for FY July 2017-June 2018

annual exPenDITuRenu. 201.993 (includes capital and current budget)

BuDGeT alloCaTIonnu. 234.16(includes capital and current budget)


ICT InfRasTRuCTuRe

ict infrastructure established

94.11% Internet penetation as of March 2018

18 Dzongkhag connected with OPGW fiber

2 Dzongkhags and

201 gewogs connected with ADSS fiber cables

optical fibre

infrastructure

Goverment Data

centre

80+ government systems hosted

epayment Gateway

4 critical government

agencies connected to ePayment

Gateway

200 Gewogs,

14 Drungkhags,

68 RnRs,

47 Bhus and

17 schools

connected with Intranet and

Internet.

Goverment intranet system

Wide area network

3 Thromdes (samdrup Jongkhar,

Gelephu and Phuentsholing)

wide area network

established

two 10 Gbps link between Twan and GDC established in infographic.

200 Internet connected to internet


MaJoR PRoJeCTs

The Table presents major projects of the Department along with the funding details.

Table Details of the major projectsSl.No Project Title Funding

SourceAmount

(Nu. in million)1 G Suite (formerly Google Apps) for

GovernmentRGoB 15.393

2 ePayment Gateway GoI 17.125

3 Government Intranet System GoI 35.777

4 Government Data Hub Platform RGoB 8.197

5 National ICT competitions RGoB 0.4

6 Government Data Center GoI 15.517

7 e-Gov Policy RGoB 0.340

8 Digital Literacy and ICT adoption RGoB 0.344

9 Druk Research and Education Network ADB 13.480

10 National Broadband Master Plan Implementation Project

GoI 4.995

11 ICT Industry Development RGoB 1.629

12 Bhutan Computer Incidents Response Team

RGoB 2.142

13 Bhutan National Startup Weekend RGoB 4.250

14 CubeSat Project RGoB

15 Ground Infrastructure for South Asia Satellite Project (Bhutan portion)

GoI

16 GovCMS GoI 3.3


aChIeveMenTs

infrastructure services» Successfully migrated and hosted 40 government systems

which includes 20 dzongkhag websites and 20 agency websites. Currently, GDC hosts 80+ government systems including G2C, G2G and G2B services. Migration of new systems are underway.

» Upgraded GDC storage capacity to 68 terabyte (TB) to accommodate new and upcoming government systems.

» Implemented an online Ticketing System that allows GDC-related support to be organised and resolved in an efficient manner. While the ticketing system was developed for managing GDC related issues, it is also being used for GovNet and GovCMS purposes. Successfully deployed GDC Backup Site at GovNet Server room. The Backup Site maintains a copy of business critical systems hosted at GDC. Data is backed up at 2 levels: Secondary Storage and Tape Library.

» Revamped Thimphu Wide Area Network (TWAN) with inclusion of cable tray to have structured cabling, installed diesel generator for power redundancy during power outages and optical fiber resilience for 10 Gbps link along utility duct of express highway between TWAN and GDC have been established.

» Internet and Intranet connectivity to 200 Gewog Administration offices are established and leveraging on the same network following administrative offices are connected: (1) 14 number of Dungkhag Administration Offices, (2) 68 number of RNR (Renewable Natural Resource) Centers, (3) 47 number of Basic Health Units(BHUs) and (4) 17 number of Schools.

» Established Thromde Wide Area Network in Samdrup Jongkhar, Gelephu and Phuentsholing thereby integrating 70 regional offices and 3 schools to Thromde WANsv with Government Intranet and Internet connectivity and developed GovNet policy. Successful Installation and Testing of VSAT terminal over the South Asia Satellite (SAS)/ GSAT-9 at Bhutan Broadcasting Service Premises for internet, video conferencing and DTH reception.


» VSAT terminals installed in Soe, Naro and Lingzhi gewogs, Thimphu Dzongkhag for reception of Internet and BBS channels.Successful reception of BBS channels 1 and 2 in Lokchina gewog, Chukha Dzongkhag. Similar installations to be implemented in areas without BBS coverage.

» BIRDS-2 project is a Bhutan’s first satellite. Bhutan 1 cubesat ready to be delivered to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for launch. Contract agreement signed between DITT and NHDCL for the construction of antenna foundation (civil works)

» Establishment of DrukREN and Connect to TEIN4 has enabled collaboration and research among Research & Education Institutes located both within and outside Bhutan

» Interconnected 4 network operators in Bhutan Internet Exchange (BIX)

» Revamped MoIC LAN

» Signed SLA Agreement with Bhutan Telecom for Operation & Management of DrukREN and to provide Bulk International Commercial Transit for DurkREN Members

» Migration to DrukREN completed for 9 colleges under RUB including OVC and 10 hospitals

» Trained officials from DITT, MoIC and other agencies

» National Broadband Masterplan Implementation Project- First Domestic ring connected by connecting Sephu under Wangdiphodrang to Tangsibjee under Trongsa Dzongkhag

» Fiber Cleanup of OPGW network completed.

» Fiber Cleanup of ADSS lines connecting Gewogs under Zhemgang Dzongkhag completed.

» Internet Penetration 94.11% as of March, 2018


application services» Enhanced the Data Exchange platform allowing systems across

the RGoB to share data in realtime. The platform has been used to create APIs to share data from multiple agencies including the Dept of Civil Registration & Census, RCSC, Department of Public Expenditure, RSTA, Ministry of Economic Affairs etc. The initiative also implemented a Single Sign On facility to enable citizens to register one time and have the ability to apply for multiple government online services.

» Developed a standard GovCMS and a centralised distribution platform to host 20 dzongkhags and 4 thromdes’ websites. As part of this initiative the department also provided training and support to all the webmasters in developing and migrating their current website to the new GovCMS platform.

» Government Web standards document was developed to guide the webmasters in the government agencies. The document covers the entire lifecycle of the website starting from the conceptualization to the decommissioning of websites.

» In order to encourage innovation, 10 mobile applications for different agencies are currently under development. A mobile apps training for ICTOs were organized and 4 functional mobile apps were developed.

» Developed the Gov.bt portal, a single window repository of websites in the RGoB.

» Collaborated with College of Science and Technology (CST) and provided financial support to organize mobile apps development. Through this program, the students gained experience working on real world projects which will help smoothen the transition from college to the workplace. Students involved with the initiatives were employed by private software firms soon after graduation.

» The IT lecturers from CST, Sherubtse and Gyelposhing college were trained on Android Fundamentals to enable them to guide and mentor students was also conducted.

» 15 desktop computers were provided to Gyelposhing IT college to encourage more hands on programming


» For efficiency and to facilitate a move towards a paperless working environment, 9000 G Suite licenses has been allocated across all Ministries (excluding MoE since they are on free G Suite for Education), autonomous agencies, Dzongkhags and 5 fully state owned enterprises (Bhutan Post, Druk Air, NPPF, RBHSL & CDCL).

» Refresher courses on using G Suite were provided to 76 agencies including Schools.

» From a total of 9000 accounts, 88% were provisioned. 97.2% of the created users are actively using G Suite platform. The department could also reallocate 8% of the total accounts used by employees who have resigned, superannuated and transferred out of civil service.

» Supported the Ministry of Education in developing the Teacher Projection and Allocation System (aka TRE System). The system is mainly used to project and address the teacher gaps existing in the schools and dzongkhags.

» Supported NCWC in developing and implementing CMIS(Central Management Information System) and Toll free helpline for Women and Children. Both CMIS system and Toll Free systems successfully implemented. Children and Women across Bhutan who are in need of counselling & support for NCWC or who wants to lodge complaints relating to child/women issues can do it through toll free helpline and also get registered for follow up and other services through CMIS.

ict promotion & awareness» 205 CC operators trained in collaboration with BDBL. The training

covered various areas of technical, management and service delivery to built up the capacity of CC operators to enhance the operation of the CC.

» Conducted seminars for government executives as part of the ICT awareness and adoption mainly aimed at reducing the barrier to enable ICT adoption.

» Conducted ICT awareness campaign in 4 Dzongkhags (Trashigang, Mongar, Lhuentse and Pemagatshel) and 4 Dungkhags (Thrimshing, Panbang, Nanglam and Samdrup Choling) to increase ICT adoption across the society.


ict industry ecosystem» Hosted international conference, Bhutan IT & Training Event in

collaboration with Bhutan IT and Training Association (BICTTA).

» Conducted training for SMEs to increase ICT adoption and consumption by SMEs.

» 9 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) companies are operating from Thimphu TechPark (TTP). 2 FDI operating from outside TTP.

» Conducted second Techstars Startup Weekend technology edition at College of Science & Technology. 5 colleges participated in the event.

» Conducted Business idea pitching event in 7 colleges to create an ecosystem for startups in colleges and the community. 140 ideas were selected to participate in the Bhutan National Techstars Startup Weekend 2018.

» Conducted first Bhutan National Techstars Startup Weekend 2018. 162 college students and out of college youths participated in the event. Top 6 ideas were awarded grant support to materialize their idea into a business.

» Institutionalized grant support guidelines for the startups.

» Formalized and shared the Bhutan’s value proposition document for ICT investment to Bhutan embassies across the globe in order to establish a global market access.


cybersecurity services» Incidents handled and resolved: During the financial year 2017-

18 BtCIRT handled 250 incidents in total. The monthly statistics for the year is provided below:

Following chart depicts the type of incidents handled by BtCIRT in the last 12 months, with 83.2% constituting vulnerabilities detected in the systems, followed by systems infected by malicious code accounting to 10.8% of total incidents. The remaining 6% resolved incidents were phishing emails/sites, systems compromised, cryptojacking, and few intrusion attempts.


» Lab set up and honeypot deployed: A test lab has been setup where web, mail and DNS test servers are hosted for testing any incident related to these services. A ssh honeypot sensor has also been implemented to study the behaviour of attackers, which shall be extended with other sensors.

» Govnet Vulnerability Management Process developed to provide high‐level overview of the vulnerability management workflow for Govnet and to provide reference to all Govnet stakeholders to help understand the standards and procedures that are important in managing vulnerability.

» Information and network security workshop was conducted where 50 ICT officers from various sectors participated, with financial support from EU(European Union) and TEIN*CC @TEIN (Trans-Eurasia Information Network* Corporation Center) through the Asi@Connect Project and Technical support from APNIC, from 9th- 13th October 2017.

» Baseline Security Assessment was carried out for Kuensel Corporation Limited and detailed report of vulnerabilities and mitigation measure was provided.

» Hardened CentOS provided to GDC: CentOS 7 which host most of the government systems was customised with all security measures applied based on CIS(Centre of Internet Security) benchmark and facilitated to GDC to be used as template for deploying any systems hereon.


» As a part of government website migration to GDC, BtCIRT conducted vulnerability assessment and conducted workshop for all web admins demonstrating how to mitigate detected vulnerabilities.

» FIN-CERT consultative meeting conducted: with 10 representatives from 6 financial institutes, first round of consultative meeting was conducted to understand current state of institutions, challenges and the need for a common group to take care of financial sectors’ security.

» Published security alerts and advisories on website and Facebook page: BtCIRT provides updates on latest threats and vulnerabilities and provides advisories on known threats and best practices via its website, facebook page and email to government system administrations. Users can also subscribe to receive any Alerts or Articles on to their inbox.

» Conducted awareness for end users in 12 dzongkhags

ict Hr management services» Capacity Development of ICT Professionals- Total of 113 ICT

officials were trained in 5 competencies from the Capacity Development Framework as planned for the fiscal year 2017 - 2018 and other 10 competencies through invitation received from outside. 45 ICT officials were also provided an opportunities to get certified in 3 different competencies, however only 4 ICT officials were able to get certified. Nevertheless, 4 mobile applications were produced that aims to improved public service delivery during 1 of the competency development in “Android based Mobile Apps development with Java”. The detailed information on capacity development for the year 2017-2018 is given in the Annexure 2.

» 4 ICT Heads Meeting conducted organized by ICT heads working group with administrative support from ICT Management division. This meeting is an important forum for communication and coordination, and plays a vital role in ensuring that work carried out by various agencies are better coordinated and aligned


» 1 month ICT orientation 2018 conducted: 7 new recruits were trained to familiarize the ICT professionals with the whole of government initiatives undertaken by the department and other agencies and ensure that the new recruits are properly inducted into the civil service with appropriate skills, knowledge and competence required for the position.

» Formation of 2 ICT clusters in Gelephu Thromde and Mongar Dzongkhag : ICT Professionals of different regional offices were pooled in to the center.

» Transfer of ICT Officers who have served more than 5 years in Dzongkhags/Thromde to Thimphu by sending recruit as replacement: Gelephu Thromde, Sarpang and Mongar Dzongkhag

ict Division, moic» Deployed ICT Help Desk using the google suite and shared to

six agencies (MoE, OAG, RCSC, MoFA, MoLHR, MoEA). This has enabled users to effectively seek ICT services through token system which records turn around time.

» Implemented Online Payment services for the RSTA that have reduced the turnaround time in service delivery and an amount of Nu .78,453,29 collected as of June 2018.

» Deployed e-Test (theory driving test) which has reduced usage of paper and curbed favoritism and nepotism culture as speculated.

» Developed and published Android version passenger transport fare chart (DRUKTransport) mobile app that have contributed in reduction of printing cost for fare chart.

» Produced Road Safety-Road lane markings animation with the help of JICA volunteer working in DoIM.

» Published Traffic Offence Data mining report based on 6 years traffic offence data in collaboration with PPD,MoIC.

» Online attendance system (LAS) developed in collaboration with Application Division,DITT with an objective to improve the existing manual attendance system and achieve the “less paper” initiative.Implemented in RCSC, MoEA, MoH, MoWHS, DoAT, RSTA, BCAA, DoIM, DITT, Mongar Dzongkhag and Sarpang Dzongkhag.


ict section, Dagana Dzongkhag administration » Support rendered to ICT business startup entrepreneur. The youth

from Dagana Dzongkhag started ICT business in Dagana Town with support from the Dzongkhag on May 10, 2018. Through this, the ICT services are made available for people living in Daga Town.

» Internet connection (GovNet.) to Government Offices under Dagana Dzongkhag; 13 RNR Centers connected to GovNet. Field staff (Agriculture Extension, Livestock Extension & Forestry Officials) and Sector heads (Dzongkhag Agriculture Officer & Dzongkhag Livestock Officer) now do official correspondences over internet which has enhance the office operation and service delivery.

ict section, punakha Dzongkhag administration » Extended 60 internet points from current DLAN network to enable

delivery of online service to the general public.

» Three RNR center connected to internet from Gewog office and Community Center.


ChallenGes

Below lays down few key challenges that the Department has faced during the implementation of various ICT projects.

infrastructure services» Owing to increase in online government services, number of

request to host systems/applications were increasing. Due to technical incompetencies, the team and the stakeholders faced some migration challenges to new Data Center environment.

» Following are the list of challenges faced by GovNet:

» Difficulties in rolling out optical fiber cables in absence of utility duct.

» Frequent breakages of optical fiber cables attributed to developmental activities, shifting of offices and absence of utility duct.

» Network connectivity outages and deployment of high cost technology owing to degraded optical fiber cables quality and because of frequent breakage and aging.

» The sparse distribution of Government offices especially in rural areas impedes selection of last mile technology (radio or wired), reliable right of way for cables, switches getting damaged in lightning prone area and backhaul point-of-presence connection.

» Constraint in managing and operating due to sheer vastness of the network, ever changing technology and cyber security threats, lack of capacity and requirement to during odd hours.

» Few offices with old structures lack proper electric and civil structures that deters implementation of proper networking and implementation of safety measures. This leads to turning off power to networking devices which ultimately causes network outages to underlying networks.


application services» For enabling the Data Exchange platform allowing systems

across the RGoB to share data in realtime. The development of composite services that cuts across multiple agencies through the sharing of existing data. The expertise do not exists in the country therefore finding a capable International vendor at an affordable price was difficult.

» Developed a standard GovCMS and a centralised distribution platform to host 20 dzongkhags and 4 thromdes’ websites. One of the key challenges is framing a common set of web solution for diverse set of requirements across the different dzongkhags and thromde webmasters.

ict promotion & awareness» A consistent and vigorous ICT awareness activities are essential

for increasing the ICT promotion and adoption in the country. Lack of human resources and coverage of dzongkhags has impeded the ICT awareness programs.

» Although there is presence of adequate ICT infrastructure setup in dzongkhags, dungkhags and gewogs but lack of adequate training has impeded the use of ICT infrastructure in the communities.

ict industry ecosystem» Creating employment in the IT/ITES sector when the expansion

of the industry has been limited.

» Lack of current state of ICT skills in the country is affecting in strategizing the future skills requirement

» Lack of attractive incentives deters FDI investment and growth of national firms.

» Overall ICT industry is still at an early stage of growth wherein majority are focused on retail which has impacted the overall growth of the industry as well as innovation in this sector.

» Transformation of the industry to move for retail to service sector


cybersecurity services» Low awareness among end users on cyber security and safe

computer use.

» Constituents lacking initiatives to enforce cybersecurity related activities and guidelines

» Visibility: hardly any incidents reported by constituents

» Technical skills of the team and the system owners is crucial for the success of BtCIRT.

» Cooperation from constituents

ict Hr management services» Resistant in relieving ICT Officers of Ministries and Agencies

from Department’s to ICT Divisions in HQ after division has been formed with approval from RCSC.

» Limited ICT Professionals in senior level to lead ICT Divisions towards innovation and improved service delivery.

» Coordination and participation with ICT professionals in various communication forums to have better discussion and innovative solutions of challenges faced in ICT sectors.

» Budget for ICT capacity development.


hIGhlIGhTs2018

Bhutan’s first ever satellite, BHUTAN-1 was launched on friday, June 29, 2018 from flor-ida, usa, by a falcon 9 rocket of spacex. BhuTan-1 has been developed by Bhuta-nese engineers at the kyushu Institute of Technology as part of their Master’s Degree under the BIRDs-2 Project. The BIRDs Proj-ect is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project for non space faring countries support-ed by Japan.

DITT handed over 15 number of Dell i5 computer sets to Gyelposhing IT college to encourage IT students to develop innovative application and to gain experience by working on real world projects. on request from col-lege, the Department set up a computer lab in the College to enable the students to learn and work additional hours from their normal computer classes. The Department have also trained college lecturers on mobile application development to guide students on their proj-ects and innovative solutions.

June 29th ►

◄ June 27th

June 21-22 ►

DITT in collaboration with Bhutan ICT and Training association (BICTTa) organized 3rd Bhutan International ICT and Training event (BIITTe) with theme “Promoting Techno-en-trepreneurship for Digital economy”. BIITTe is an annual event which provides opportuni-ties for local ICT industry players to explore possible areas of collaboration with potential investors and established a network for the business tie up. It is a platform to showcase emerging technologies relevant to Bhutan context through a blend of conference experi-ence and exposition. There were more than 60 ICT Industry players from 24 asian oceanian Computing Industry organization (asoCIo) along with the leaders, bureaucrats and offi-cials from Royal Government of Bhutan who participated in the event.


The prizes for the national website Compe-tition was award on 1st June 2018. The top three agencies were awarded with the certifi-cates and Individual webmasters were award-ed with the certificates and prizes to recognize their hard work to keep the websites up-to date and secure.

June 1st ►

The Department with support from the Col-lege of science & Technology, Rinchending organised the workshop for the first satellite of the country, Bhutan - 1 indicating the Bhu-tan’s journey in the space quest. The Profes-sor from kyushu Institute of Technology also attended the workshop along with the officials from the relevant agencies.

◄ march 20th

march ►16th -18th

The DITT in collaboration with Bhutan Inno-vation & Technology Centre has organized first ever National Techstars startup weekend. The event aimed to create startup culture in the country through promotion of entrepre-neurship and innovation among youths and provide a platform for youths to explore the possibility technology offers to enhance any ideas (blend technology to any idea)

The initial round of Business idea compe-tition was organized in various colleges across the country to select top 20 ideas for the National Level.


a 4 day requirement workshop for the Gov-CMs was organized where webmasters from 13 dzongkhags and districts have registered and participated for the event.

february 12th ►

an extensive awareness and advocacy pro-gram was launched through workshops with officials of Dzongkhag/Dungkhag/local Gov-ernment. The team created an awareness program on e-Government initiatives, ICT initiatives, policies and plans. The department carried out the assessment of network & sys-tems that are hosted in GDC to assess and monitor the network connectivity; verify and validate the Internet and P2P bandwidth re-ceived from the Internet service Provider and Core Twan infrastructure respectively.

◄ January 16th-4th february

The service agency contract agreement for Druk Research & education network (DrukRen) was signed between Bhutan Tele-com limited & DITT. The national Research and education network - DrukRen - consist of fiber-optic network using the existing OP-Gw(optical Ground wire). a 10 Gigabit per second fibre optic backbone is established in-terconnecting all the research and education institutes in the country.

◄ february 14th


The BtCIRT conducted cyber security advo-cacy in 12 dzongkhags namely, samdrup Jongkhar, Pemagatshel, Trashiyangtse, Trashigang, Mongar, lhuentse, Trongsa, Gasa, samtse, haa, Paro and Thimphu. The program was tailored to meet the cyber se-curity needs of general end users that arise out of their daily occupational and personal engagements.

◄ December 29th - 15th January

september - January ►

The Department in collaboration with the Dz-ongkhags ICT section has successfully trained the CC operators of 200 gewogs. The training was conducted to enhance the skills of the CC operators to effectively facilitate a delivery of public services from the Community Center established in 200 gewogs.


The salang Tendrel(ground-breaking) cere-mony for construction of new IT Park building was held at Thimphu TechPark , Babesa. The success of first IT park has led to the con-struction of new building. The first IT Park was constructed under the Private sector Devel-opment Project funded by world Bank.

December 20th ►

◄ December 11th - 13th

The Department organized three days work-shop themed “ICT adoption in sMes”. The participants were taught to use some of the business productive tools and applications to enhance their business operation. a total of 30 participants from various business seg-ment attended the workshop.

The expectations on ICT and the responsibili-ties of ICT professionals have corresponding-ly increased both in depth and coverage. This situation calls for specialized skills in varied areas and high level of professionalism. 29 ICT Officials from Dzongkhag, Thromdes, Regional offices and Agencies are success-fully trained in Cisco Certified Network Asso-ciate (CCna) at koenIG solutions Institute, Delhi, India.

hIGhlIGhTs2017

◄ December 15th - 25th


GsMa Capacity Building training session on “Mobile for socio-economic Development” for the policy makers and implementers was organized to leverage innovative mobile ser-vices to improve and enhance public services to the citizens. The training has been made possible through the support of the asia Pacif-ic Telecommunity (aPT).

December 4th -6th ►

e-GIf (national enterprise architecture) Workshop 15/11/2017. The Department con-ducted a one Day workshop on e-GIf to the ICT officers from various agencies in the gov-ernment. The workshop is conducted to start the assignment to develop service Catalogue, application Portfolio, Technology Portfolio and Data element list for RGoB.

15th november ►

Mr. Brahima sanou BDT, ITu and Mr Ioane Koroivuki, Regional Director, ITU Asia-Pacific gave a talk to the MoIC staff and ICT heads about the ICT priorities of Bhutan through outcomes of world Telecommunication De-velopment Conference 2017 which was held in Buenos aires, argentina, from 9 to 20 oc-tober 2017.

◄ 2nd november


The Department in collaboration with Bhutan Innovation & Technology Centre have orga-nized startup weekend at College of science and Technology, Phuentsholing. The program like this was initiated to encourage our youth to take up self employment programs, create employment opportunities for others and be-come an entrepreneur and an employer.

Bhutan received the asian-oceanian Com-puting Industry organisation (asoCIo) Dig-ital government award at the ICT summit in Taiwan for Information and Communications technology (ICT) initiatives that had been un-dertaken in the country. asoCIo recognises and awards individuals, firms and government for remarkable transformation in ICT. In order to achieve this award, some of the key initiatives reflected were ICT for good gov-ernance and national broadband master plan, government intranet, Bhutan Computer Inci-dent Response Team (BtCIRT), and e-gov-ernment interoperability framework (e-GIf).

october 27th ►

◄ september 11th-13th

october 16th ►

The ICT Conference themed ‘Digital Inclusive Bhutan’ was organized to provide a platform of interaction among the ICT fraternity. some of the major highlights of the conference were the launch of ICT management manual fol-lowed by the discussions on priorities areas viz. accessibility, adoption and application identified in 12th FYP.


The Department organized 12th five Year Plan consultative workshop to get feedbacks and comments from various agencies and dz-ongkhags. as a part of the workshop, a draft 12th fYP indicating programs, nkRa, aRka and major components of each division under the Department was charted and presented to the participants. The ICT Officers from various agencies and dzongkhag representative at-tended the workshop. The activities proposed by all ICT divisions and dzongkhags for the 12th fYP were also discussed.

september 19th ►

◄ september 11th

Table Tennis tournament was organized in the Department to build up better workplace rela-tionship and strengthen the bonding amongst the coworkers. It was a part of team building activities which allowed the employees to know each other better in a casual environ-ment.

Mr. Jamie Gillespie and Mr. Tashi Phuntsho from APNIC(Asia Pacific Network Information Center) conducted a week long workshop on Information and network security workshop. The workshop covered topics on network and security threats and breaches, Policies and Countermeasures. Participants include ICT personnel from Banks, Power Corporation, Royal Bhutan Police, RuB Colleges, Dz-ongkhags and Ministries.

◄ october 9th - 13nd


The team from Ministry of Information and Communications lead by honorable lyonpo with head of the Departments and other offi-cials from MoIC attended the national Grad-uate orientation Program. a presentation on the overall role/impact of ICT and the opportu-nities ahead was delivered. The opportunities in ICT were presented in two aspect i) plat-form for employment- opportunities to get em-ployed ii) Creator of employment by becoming startups/entrepreneurs- creator/innovators.

annual Performance agreement (aPa) of the divisions under the Department was signed between Director General and the chiefs of the division. some of the major focus area for the year 2017-2018 were on improve ICT service delivery, operationalized GDC, De-veloped and implement e-GIf architecture, strengthen Government network, Provide reliable and secure connectivity through gov-ernment intranet, automate G2G, Increase in-ternet and broadband penetration, Deploy re-liable and secure mail system and to increase ICT investment.

august 22nd ►

◄ august 16th 2017

The annual Performance agreement(aPa) for the Department was signed between hon’ble secretary,MoIC and Director General DITT in presence of hon’ble Prime Minister and hon’ble Minister, MoIC along with other departments BCaa, DoaT, DoIM, RsTa and secretariat Division heads under MoIC

august 4th ►


The department of IT and Telecom conduct-ed a Workshop to review the first draft of the Government web standards, where ICT heads and webmasters from various agencies in Thimphu participated in the event.

July 21st ►


YeaR aheaD

As we look forward to year 2018 -2019 onwards, the Department will continue to strategize towards leveraging the infrastructure and basic environment created this year for better, efficient and effective public service delivery. The Department will continue to focus on driving change and encouraging innovation through use of ICT. The year ahead will be marked toward making Bhutan “Digital Bhutan”.


anne

xuRe

1:na

tiona

l fib

er n

etwo

rk m

ap


anne

xuRe

2:

Deta

ils o

f cap

acity

bui

ldin

g in

itiat

ives

Tabl

e: C

apac

ity D

evel

opm

ent f

or th

e ye

ar 2

017-

2018

snTr

aining

Title

no. o

f ICT

profe

ssion

al tra

ined

Train

ing

Dates

(Dur

ation

)Ins

titute/

Loca

tion

outco

me

1Mo

bile f

or s

ocio-

econ

omic

Deve

lopme

nt33

4 - 6

Dece

mber

20

17IM

sl, s

erbit

hang

, Thim

phu

“The

train

ing on

mob

ile fo

r soc

io ec

onom

ic de

velop

ment

was

very

insigh

tful a

nd tim

ely. In

sightf

ul be

caus

e it g

ave a

n in-

depth

an

d holi

stic p

ersp

ectiv

e of m

obile

and i

ts po

wer t

o imp

act th

e so

cio-e

cono

mic d

evelo

pmen

t in a

coun

try. T

imely

as w

e are

tra

nsitio

ning t

owar

ds se

rvice

orien

ted de

velop

ment

wher

ein

we ha

ve th

e high

est m

obile

pene

tratio

n whic

h stan

ds at

92%

. le

vera

ging m

obile

for p

rovid

ing se

rvice

s is t

he on

ly str

ategy

tow

ards

achie

ving o

ur v

ision

of “I

CT en

abled

know

ledge

so

ciety

as a

found

ation

for G

ross

nati

onal

happ

iness

”

2Ci

sco C

ertifi

ed N

etwor

k Ass

ociat

e (CC

NA)

traini

ng an

d cer

tifica

tion

2915

- 25

Dec

embe

r 20

17ko

enig,

Delh

i, Ind

iaTh

e ICT

offic

ials a

re no

w eq

uippe

d with

hand

ling t

heir o

rgan

iza-

tion’s

netw

ork i

n ter

ms of

>

IP da

ta ne

twor

k ope

ratio

n>

lan

switc

hing t

echn

ology

>

IP ad

dres

ses

> IP

routi

ng te

chno

logy

> ne

twor

k dev

ice se

curity

> T

roub

lesho

oting

>

wan

tech

nolog

y

3Inf

orma

tion t

echn

ology

infra

struc

ture l

ibrar

y (IT

Il)2

12 -

23 M

arch

2018

koen

ig, D

elhi, I

ndia

2 ICT

offic

ials c

ertifi

ed in

ITIL

found

ation

. With

this

skille

d ga

ined t

he IC

T offi

cials

will b

e able

to id

entify

, plan

and i

m-pr

oved

ICT

servi

ces p

rovid

ed by

their

resp

ectiv

e age

ncies

.


4an

droid

base

d Mob

ile a

pps d

evelo

pmen

t with

Ja

va14

2 - 21

apr

il 201

8BI

TC, T

TPl,

Thim

phu

Prod

uced

follo

wing

4 mo

bile a

pplic

ation

s tha

t aim

s to i

mpro

ve

publi

c ser

vice d

elive

ry:1.

explo

re B

hutan

2. Dz

ongk

ha ap

p for

kids

3. M-

conta

ct4.

City

Bus s

ervic

e

5btn

oG 5

44 -

8 Ju

ne 20

18si

mtok

ha, T

himph

u4 I

CT of

ficial

s suc

cess

fully

traine

d. Th

is tra

ining

will

assis

t the

ICT

officia

ls to

mana

ging n

etwor

k, sy

stems

and a

pplic

ation

s.

6Tr

aining

in P

HP &

MyS

QL, a

nd gl

obal

certifi

ca-

tion (

orac

le) in

Mys

Ql da

tabas

e adm

inistr

ator

144 -

15 Ju

ne 20

18no

ble P

rog,

Delhi

India

14 IC

T offi

cials

Succ

essfu

lly tr

ained

with

2 IC

T offi

cials

clear

ing

the ce

rtifica

tion c

ourse

in M

ySQL

Data

base

Adm

inistr

ator

(Ora

cle).

With

this

comb

ined s

killed

, the I

CT of

ficial

s are

now

capa

ble of

deliv

ery h

ighly

uniqu

e solu

tions

to su

ppor

t their

re

spec

tive a

genc

ies vi

sion a

nd m

ission

.

7IC

T for

the I

mplem

entat

ion of

Gov

ernm

ent

Capa

city a

nd s

ervic

es(D

): Inf

orma

tion s

ecur

ity3

26 f

ebru

ary -

4 Ju

ly 20

18ok

inawa

, Jap

anTh

e kno

wled

ge an

d skil

l gain

ed fr

om th

is 4 m

onths

cour

se is

int

ende

d to b

e use

d to i

mpro

ve th

e role

of IC

T in

the or

ganiz

a-tio

n by i

ntrod

ucing

Infor

matio

n sec

urity

Man

agem

ent s

ystem

for

secu

re in

forma

tion.

aPT

, ITu

and o

thers


8i.

aPT

Train

ing C

ourse

on Te

lecom

munic

ation

Po

licy a

nd R

egula

tion T

rend

s in t

he D

igital

so

ciety

(Pha

se I:

on-lin

e Tra

ining

and P

hase

II:

face

-to-f

ace T

raini

ng)

ii. Tr

aining

on C

ollab

orati

ve cr

oss-

secto

ral

regu

lator

y mec

hanis

ms an

d com

petiti

on

analy

sis in

digit

al ec

onom

y iii.

Train

ing on

Coll

abor

ative

cros

s- se

ctora

l re

gulat

ory m

echa

nisms

and c

ompe

tition

an

alysis

in di

gital

econ

omy

iv. a

PT tr

aining

on C

ellula

r Mob

ile n

etwor

k and

Te

chno

logies

v. In

terna

tiona

l sate

llite s

ympo

sium

vi. a

PT Tr

aining

Cou

rse on

Cyb

er s

ecur

ity

Tech

nolog

ies- R

ecen

t Tre

nds o

f Risk

s and

Co

unter

meas

ures

to th

em

vii. A

PT Tr

aining

Cou

rse on

the I

nflue

nce o

f Big

Data

and T

eleco

mmun

icatio

ns.

viii. T

raini

ng on

Bus

iness

Pro

cess

Man

agem

ent

notat

ion la

ngua

ge ve

rsion

2

14(4

th se

pt - 2

7 oc

tober

2017

)Ba

ngko

k, Th

ailan

d, To

kyo

Japa

n, sh

angh

ai, P

R. C

hina,

Malay

sia, a

nd D

elhi, I

ndia

14 IC

T offi

cials

were

succ

essfu

lly tr

ained

in 8

new

and

adva

nced

topic

s thr

ough

whic

h the

y are

now

equip

ped w

ith

the sk

ill se

ts to

Impr

ove p

ublic

servi

ce de

liver

y with

in the

ir re

spec

tive a

genc

ies.

aal rort july 2017...message from director general it is with great pride and accomplishment that i...

Documents