Since the appointment of Bartholomew Pujals as general director of the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (Ogtic), on January 23, 2023, the institution has streamlined government processes, achieving savings of 40 million pesos to the State with the signature digital.
It reported that, from January 2023 to May 2024, 234,999 requests for signature digitalwith a total cost of 1,174,999 pesos. In comparison, to the handwritten ones that would have cost 41,721,073 pesos
Among other achievements, he mentioned that the Republic Dominican advanced the recognition of Signature Digital Cross-border, agreeing agreements with countries in the region so that the signature digital be valid throughout Latin America.
“In just over a year, we have achieved that 67 institutions are interoperable, exchanging information, on topics such as citizen security, citizen folder, and various online permit applications, such as the single window for construction and other Zero Bureaucracy projects,” manifested Pujals.
The mobile application also stood out File Citizenallowing people to access their data in one place, consolidating more than 17 institutions in the early stages.
Attention Citizen
Regarding citizen attention, he highlighted that, in less than a year, three GOB Points were opened in Santo Domingo Oeste, Santo Domingo Norte and Santiago, impacting 3,000,000 citizens.
“We have worked to bring the State closer to the citizensthrough GOB Points. This year, we have achieved a record of care with more than 1,700,000 services and 870,000 people served,” he said.
Achievements in Innovation
At the end of 2023, Bartolome Pujals launched the Strategy National of Artificial intelligence (ENIA), which establishes a roadmap for the development and adoption of the artificial intelligence in the Republic Dominican. This fact made the country the first in Central America to have this strategy.
Pujals During his management he also managed to position Republic Dominican among the countries with the highest score in Central America and the Caribbean, in the Government Preparedness Index for AI 2023, which measures how prepared countries are to take on the artificial intelligence.
The country was also ranked first in the Caribbean and sixth in Latin America, even above Argentina, in the Global Index on Responsible AI (Girai) Report, which measures the progress of countries in the responsible implementation of AI. artificial intelligence.
In the face of criticism arising from the lease of the Vista 311 Corporate Building for RD$1.4 billion, Pujals said that his only response is transparency. “I have always been a person who supports concerns and is in favor of questioning, respecting the right of people to express themselves and ask questions, but in this case it is a lack of knowledge of the information about these operations and the benefits that this brings for the citizens,” said Pujals. This contract was signed by Pujals’ predecessor, Mr. Pedro Antonio Quezada Cepeda, who was dismissed in 2023.
