Digital government project aims to deliver faster and more reliable public services

GREAT BAY--The Government of St. Maarten is advancing a major Digital Government Transformation Project that will change how residents and businesses access public services. By introducing modern digital tools and strengthening the underlying infrastructure, the project aims to make services easier to reach, faster to process and more reliable, even during and after natural disasters.

Interim Head of Information and Communication Technology and Leader of the Digital Leadership Team, Femi Badejo, outlined why the project is a key step in the country’s modernization agenda and how it will directly benefit citizens.

“The Digital Government Transformation Project lays the foundation for future innovation and modernization in St. Maarten,” Badejo said. “What we hope to achieve is a reduction in the siloed departments and siloed environments that we faced in the past, and the long wait times to receive services. This project sets the basis to enhance those services and bring them faster, smarter and more reliably to the people.”

Badejo explained that digital transformation goes beyond putting forms online. It requires St. Maarten to rethink how government operates and how it serves the public.

“Digital transformation means rethinking the way that we operate, the way that we function as a government and as an island,” he noted. “As the world becomes more modern and embraces technology, including artificial intelligence, it is important that we do not lag behind. We must keep up with the rest of the world and really embrace technology and digital services, but also rethink how we want to serve the public better.”

According to Badejo, residents and the private sector will see concrete improvements as the project rolls out.

“One of the biggest benefits is that citizens will notice a faster, more responsive government,” he said. “That has been a real pain point for many residents and businesses. They will have easier access to services, they will be able to access many of these services online, and there will be more transparency behind the processes. Communication between government, citizens and businesses will improve, and those will be some of the first changes people will notice as we implement the project.”

A core element of the Digital Government Transformation Project is resilience. The initiative grew from lessons learned after Hurricane Irma, when government operations and services were heavily disrupted.

“This project was really birthed as a result of Hurricane Irma,” Badejo stated. “We saw that resilience and sustainability of government services were critical questions. How do we function even in the event of a disaster. One of the key parts of the project is building a more robust infrastructure to make sure that, even in the case of a disaster, we are able to function and serve the public.”

He added that the team is focusing on continuity planning and modern technologies that support recovery.

“We are looking at how we manage our continuity after a disaster, whether it is a hurricane or a complete outage. We should not be compromising service to the public because of these events. By embracing modern approaches such as cloud technology and stronger disaster recovery methods, and by building this robust infrastructure, we are increasing our resilience so that, in the event of a natural disaster, we can continue to serve the public.”

Badejo believes the project gives St. Maarten a strong position compared to other Caribbean territories that are also pursuing digital transformation.

“This project, and where we are in it, actually positions us quite well at the forefront within the Caribbean,” he said. “Different islands are going through their own digital transformation and each is at a different stage. We are now moving quite rapidly. It has taken some time, like in many other countries around the world, but we are quickly implementing a range of solutions that will position us as one of the leaders in the region.”

He emphasized that the work will not stop when the current project phase ends.

“After delivering this project and continuing to build on the foundation we have laid, we want to remain in the forefront, to keep moving with global modernization and not lag behind or become complacent in how we deliver services to the public,” Badejo concluded.

The Government of St. Maarten will continue to engage stakeholders and the wider community as the Digital Government Transformation Project progresses, with more information on specific services and timelines to be shared in the coming months.

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