The Ministry of Finance, Eritrea (MoF) was looking for an integrated solution on its ministry level IT/ICT infrastructure and information management system in which they selected ULTRATES to give a feasible and achievable solution meeting all their expectations. The goal they wanted to achieve was to have an “IT Infrastructure and Information Management System” and harness an “Information Technology Solutions for Governments” in which they wanted to

• Create Insight
• Build Strong IT Foundation
• Harness the Best of IT Solutions
• Create Future Proof Systems

On 28 Nov, 2019 ULTRATES led by Eng. Ftwi Grmay has given a conference in setting a solution on this “Digital Transformation” in which it incorporates the integration of the following main services

• Inter-operable Departments
• Unified Communications
• Central and Automated Document Management System
• Ministry level knowledge sharing
• Research and Development Center
• Data and Information safety
• Decisions Based on Data
• Strategic Partners Reachability
• Official Public Informative Website and E-Mail
• Public Reachability ….

For the business applications that each department and the ministry require a “Micro Services Based Solution” was specified. Interoperability and data exchange standards between the departments, strategic partners and clients was specified. The business application was to run on “Docker” containers and automation of the Business Application was specified using “Kubernetes”.

The conference included on readiness for Mature and Emerging Technologies in which at this time mature technologies include Cloud Computing, Hybrid Cloud, Open API, On Demand Everything, Social Business, Mobile Business, Adaptive Cyber security … and so on, and emerging ( not as mature as the above) technologies include Artificial Intelligence, Collaborative & Sharing Economy, Big Data, Data Science, Internet of Things, Digital Customer Experience Management and so on. And the focus was on how to use the mature solutions only if they are a solution for the ministry and become strongly founded for the emerging solutions. Starting small was a step to be followed with infrastructure services and security infrastructure from the outset and incorporating the other services phase by phase.

Therefore, to host all the above services and other incoming services a centralized system, which has all the modern features and automatons, security standards and so on was needed. And a ministry based and ministry level “Private Cloud” was specified as a solution and discussed on how to implement this solution. Private Cloud was explained in comparison to public, hybrid and traditional solutions and to site some of the advantages discussed that private cloud can bring is

• Agility, Speed, & Flexibility
  • Rapid deployment and change management
    (Minutes vs. months to provision IT resources)
  • Adaptable to changing/unpredictable
    business needs
  • Ideal for cyclical or episodic circumstances
  • User self-service capabilities possible
• Financial Benefits
  • Cost savings
  • “Pay-as-you-go” model reduces financial risk and exposure
  • Move from capital (CapEx) to operating expense (OpEx)
  • A “natural” for Green IT and data center consolidation mandates
• Simplicity and Convenience
  • Easy, on-demand procurement of services
  • Encourages use of standardized resources/applications
  • Easy mobile access to applications nationally/globally
• New Capabilities
  • New integrated solutions not feasible before
  • Most security risks well mitigated and being addressed by Central Experts
  • New citizen services opportunities facilitated
• Reduced Infrastructure Costs (Consolidated Systems)
• Cross Departments Collaboration
• Big Data Consensus
• Security Standards and Auditing
• Secure WAN Networks
• Managed Infrastructure by knowledgeable experts
• Intranet Portals and Services

And lastly the roles and responsibilities of Chief Information officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) was discussed.

Every participant of the conference was satisfied with the solutions given and discussed to have a “Private Cloud” as their solution standard and planned on how to achieve the solution. The minister of Ministry of Finance Mr. Berhane gave a conclusion, in his words “Firstly I would like to thank Eng. Ftwi and Adulterates for giving this feasible solution and all the previous solutions that you were giving to the Ministry of Finance, and we were looking for an ICT solution that solves our needs for long and you gave us a solution and the ministry will go with this approach from now on, and I ask you to continue your collaboration to the Ministry in achieving our goals.” And he also encouraged and gave responsibility to the IT members to work diligently to achieve this goal.