The SMART Zambia Institute is collaborating with the Business Regulatory Review Agency (BRRA) to digitise and streamline the nation's business licensing and regulatory services in an attempt to do away with unnecessary procedures and advance e-government in regulatory service delivery.
The organisations in Lusaka signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week.
MOU seeks to solve long-standing issues where companies had to deal with disjointed systems, recurring documentation needs, and protracted return times across several agencies.
The event, according to Percy Chinyama, national coordinator for SMART Zambia, was more than just a formal milestone; rather, it was a strategic commitment to modernise, streamline, and digitise the way the government provides licensing and regulatory services to companies in the Southern African nation.
In line with the agreement, SMART Zambia will offer regulatory agencies and public organisations technical support to guarantee that systems are compatible with common platforms and conform to national digital standards.
Sharon Sichilongo, executive director of BRRA, underlined the complimentary roles of both organisations, pointing out that SMART Zambia manages e-government ser-vices, whereas BRRA concentrates on harmonising conflicting regulatory frame-works.
"Regulatory reform in today's world cannot be separated from digital transformation," she stated.
“The collaboration will extend to engaging the private sector in promoting sustainable resource utilisation and ensuring regulatory reforms respond to business needs. Capacity building initiatives and joint training programmes will equip officers across regulatory institutions with modern digital skills,” added SMART Zambia.
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