The Digital Government Act, 2022 (Act No. 24 of 2022) of Belize

The Digital Government Act, 2022 (Act No. 24 of 2022) of Belize establishes the E-Governance and Digitalization Department within the Ministry responsible for digital transformation. Its aim is to promote and regulate e-government services, improve service delivery, enhance citizen access, and increase the efficiency of government administration.

The Act sets out clear objectives and purposes, including leveraging technology for innovation and economic growth, making government services more user-friendly, promoting inter-agency collaboration, increasing transparency, and ensuring privacy and accessibility. It applies to most government administrative procedures, except those related to national defence and security,

Key features include:

• Establishment of the Department with powers to develop and oversee the national digital strategy, support ministries with technical guidance, and foster collaboration with civil society and the private sector.
• Simplification of administrative procedures by ensuring they are electronic, efficient, transparent, and not more costly than manual ones.
• Introduction of the “once only” principle, requiring that data provided to the government is only submitted once, with agencies sharing information securely via interoperable systems.
• Duties of public agencies to publishing procedures online, enabling remote access, and connecting their systems to national interoperability platforms.
• Provision for regulations by the Minister to give effect to the Act