DÍLI, March 20, 2025___ The Executive Director of TIC TIMOR I.P., Mr. Venâncio Pinto, accompanied by the Directors of the Departments became as speaker at the International Seminar with the theme "Harnessing Digital Transformation to Strengthen Public Services, Advancing Transparency, Efficiency, and Effectiveness."

During the workshop, the Executive Director provided detailed explanation, based on the initiatives outlined in the IX Constitutional Government’s program, which was assigned to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), under this framework, TIC TIMOR is entrusted with overseeing and implementing two critical programs: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Electronic Government.

Thus, TIC TIMOR’s mission is to manage the Government’s network infrastructure, centralizing Government data, and developing applications, including systems, to support the digital transformation.

The vision is the modernization of public services, expanding connectivity and access to both rural and urban areas.

The Executive Director further elaborated that the significance of digitalization for the Government is evident in enhancing operational efficiency, boosting productivity, reducing costs, fostering greater citizen engagement and participation, and facilitating data-driven decision-making processes.

"When discussing efficiency, productivity, and cost reduction within a system, it is crucial to ensure active citizen engagement, with a clear understanding of the tangible benefits the system provides. Additionally, fostering innovation is key, particularly through the ongoing development and integration of the system's applications."

The Executive Director further emphasized that the Government of Timor-Leste’s preparation for Digital Infrastructure is built upon three fundamental pillars: Robust Digital Infrastructure, the Establishment of a Government Digital Data Center, and the Comprehensive Development of Systems and Applications to support efficient governance.

"Discussing the digital infrastructure, it is crucial that it is seamlessly integrated with the National ICT infrastructure, while also optimizing the distribution points and enhancing network access. Additionally, there must be foundational data for Electronic Government, robust business continuity solutions, and comprehensive Data Center Strategies, encompassing Public Service Systems and the Government’s Cloud Services to ensure efficiency and sustainability."

The Executive Leader of TIC TIMOR further emphasized that, in 2024, the agency successfully generated budget savings amounting to $11 million within the ICT sector, specifically from the Development of Applications System.

To effectively implement digitalization, it is crucial to establish a comprehensive legal framework, addressing three key areas that Timor-Leste has yet to formalize: the Data Protection and Privacy Law, the Cybercrime Legislation, ICT Regulatory Policies, and the Digital Governance Strategy, with a particular focus on digital literacy programs designed to enhance technical capacity.

The Executive Director further informed that the challenges of digital transformation include, among others, difficulties in local connectivity to the Government's backbone infrastructure, high costs in internet connectivity services, security threats, privacy issues, lack of competencies, budget constraints, and limited resources.

"Discussing about the Government, Education is also an important part of the Government, as TIC TIMOR’s role is to ensure the digitalization of the State. When we talk about digital, we also face the challenge of changing people’s mindset from the conventional to the digital. If we want to make a digital transformation, we need to change their mindset."

Additionally, the Director also informed that the public service plan for the future, by 2026, establishes the Data Center with Hybrid Cloud Computing Governance, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, and Blockchain Technology.

In the same ocasion, the Director of each Department at TIC TIMOR also provided explanations on the progress of services carried out during this period and their plans for the future.

During the session, a presentation on the Digital Economy addressed by the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Helder Lopes, on the State of Emerging Technologies, presented by the DFINITY Foundation from Singapore, and also TL Startup, Mr. João Bosco Nahak from SIMILIE.

During the presentation, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Eng. Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu, the President of the Autonomous Agencies, as well as the invited guests, also participated.