Various assistance offered by the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Develop­ment and Disaster Management can now be applied online.

This follows the launch of the Capital Expenditure Capital Programmes Online Application Form at Nadave, Tailevu yester­day.

The ministry found that there was a need to go digital as part of the Government’s digital trans­formation effort.

Line minister Inia Seruiratu said the digital platform would allow the ministry to work effi­ciently and effectively.

“Digital transformation should become a necessity for all of us as we progress on our new stra­tegic direction,” he said.

“Today is another milestone for the ministry as we launch the new ministry’s online appli­cation form, which is a step for­ward to mainstreaming and digi­talising our work for efficient public service delivery.

“The use of this approach will also provide an indication of the demands for assistance.”

Mr Seruiratu said informa­tion collected would also as­sist the ministry in preparing packages and proposals for donor funding to complement the annual budgetary alloca­tion received by the ministry for the Capital Programmes. Known as the CAPEX online application, it is being operated by the KoBo Toolbox.

He said that the introduction of this application tool should not be a new thing for the staff.

He further said the tool was simple, user-friendly and pow­erful to collect data during the disaster response and recovery periods.

The content of the online ap­plication is customised for use on various devices such as Desktop Computers, Laptops, Tablets and even on the mobile phones – and it is compatible to operate efficiently in both on­line and offline areas – enabling all end users to apply from the comforts of their own homes,” he said.

“Fiji’s Digital change has been embraced as an innovative so­lution to improving productiv­ity, providing quicker process­ing timeframes, ability to drive data-based insights and encour­ages more collaboration and im­proved communications.”

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