Eleven staff from the Department of State for Communication and Information Technology (DoSCIT), the Department of State for Agriculture, Gamtel, GRTS and a student, have completed a training on computer repairs and maintenance at the new Computer Maintenance and Repairs Centre of DoSCIT, under the tutorship of River Huang, an IT expert from the International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF) of Taiwan.

The centre - started operation in April this year - is an addendum to the list of computer centres established by Taiwan in Sapu in Central River Region, the Gambia Multimedia Training Institute and the Department of State for Education. It also came after a team of IT experts from Taipei implemented the e-government programme which included the installation of e-mail and web server, besides holding training on the use of the facility.

Confirming this in an interview with the Daily Observer, Dr Patrick Chang, Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia, said these strides complement government’s effort towards transforming the country into the silicon valley of Africa. Dr Chang said the e-government programme is now being managed by Ebrahima Jobe, who is also responsible for the portal page.

Confirming that the Computer Repairs and Maintenance Centre has been equipped with a broadband internet access and training materials, Ambassador Chang disclosed that the centre successfully repaired 20 computers. “The embassy is looking forward to more efforts for the creation of information society,” he added. “Under this programme, we would like to strengthen cooperation for creating digital opportunity centres to bridge the digital divide. We would like to reinforce the e-government programme,” he assured.

Ambassador Chang then renewed Taipei’s commitment to the Silicon Valley vision, saying “we shall continue to dispatch technical experts for a feasibility study and formulate work plan to enhance governmental effectiveness and national competitiveness. We would like to nurture IT human resources. We shall train more teachers and nurture high level of information development talent and quality manpower for local information industry”.

The Taiwanese diplomacy chief in Banjul affirmed Taipei’s commitment to provide training on computer hardware maintenance and website management. He then announced that 25 Gambian students will be dispatched in August, this year to undergo an IT programme at the National Taipei University of Technology.