ICT
NITA-U Launches UG Support Platform to Enhance IT Service Desk Operations
As Uganda continues to strengthen digital service delivery across government, the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance plays a central role in coordinating national ICT initiatives and ensuring that government digital systems operate efficiently. Supporting this mandate is the National Information Technology Authority–Uganda (NITA-U), the Ministry’s implementing agency responsible for regulating, coordinating, and providing technical support for government IT services and infrastructure.
Within NITA-U, the IT Service Desk serves as the first point of contact for users experiencing technical challenges. The unit receives, tracks, and resolves IT incidents for institutions that rely on government digital platforms, helping ensure systems remain functional, secure, and accessible.
In its early years, the Service Desk relied largely on manual processes to manage incidents and user requests. Incident tracking began with simple spreadsheets, where requests were recorded and monitored using Excel. While this approach worked when the number of users and digital systems was relatively small, it gradually became difficult to manage as government digitization expanded. With more institutions adopting digital platforms, the volume and complexity of technical support requests have increased significantly.
As a result, many users often found themselves asking similar questions: Who should I contact when a system fails? How do I report a technical issue? Which channel should I use for assistance? Managing requests through multiple communication channels, such as emails and phone calls, made it difficult for the support team to track issues efficiently and ensure timely responses. In some cases, requests could be delayed or duplicated, affecting the overall user experience.
To address these challenges, NITA-U developed a new IT service platform designed to simplify how users report and resolve technical issues. The system, known as UG Support, was officially launched on 5 March 2026, marking an important milestone in modernizing IT support services at the Authority.
The new platform introduces stronger authentication and automation features that allow service tickets to be logged, tracked, and managed more efficiently. By providing a centralized environment for handling support requests, the platform enables the Service Desk team to monitor incidents more effectively and ensure faster resolution times. The structured system also improves accountability by clearly assigning and tracking tasks within the support process.
In addition, the platform creates a clearer communication channel between users and the NITA-U support team. Instead of relying solely on emails and phone calls, users can now report incidents through multiple integrated channels within the system. This provides users with greater flexibility when seeking technical assistance while allowing the Service Desk to manage all requests within a single coordinated platform.
The UG Support platform was developed over nearly a year of planning, testing, and refinement before it was ready for deployment. Throughout this process, the system was designed in alignment with the principles of ISO/IEC 20000, a globally recognized framework that guides organizations in delivering reliable and efficient IT service management.
According to Madeleine Mugisa, Service Delivery Specialist at National Information Technology Authority–Uganda, customer expectations around digital services have evolved, with users now expecting not only solutions to their problems but also a seamless and responsive support experience.
“What we count as customer experience is when a service touches all five senses,” she explained.
The new system is expected to reduce response times, strengthen communication between users and support teams, and ultimately provide a smoother and more reliable IT support experience across government digital services.
Within NITA-U, the IT Service Desk serves as the first point of contact for users experiencing technical challenges. The unit receives, tracks, and resolves IT incidents for institutions that rely on government digital platforms, helping ensure systems remain functional, secure, and accessible.
In its early years, the Service Desk relied largely on manual processes to manage incidents and user requests. Incident tracking began with simple spreadsheets, where requests were recorded and monitored using Excel. While this approach worked when the number of users and digital systems was relatively small, it gradually became difficult to manage as government digitization expanded. With more institutions adopting digital platforms, the volume and complexity of technical support requests have increased significantly.
As a result, many users often found themselves asking similar questions: Who should I contact when a system fails? How do I report a technical issue? Which channel should I use for assistance? Managing requests through multiple communication channels, such as emails and phone calls, made it difficult for the support team to track issues efficiently and ensure timely responses. In some cases, requests could be delayed or duplicated, affecting the overall user experience.
To address these challenges, NITA-U developed a new IT service platform designed to simplify how users report and resolve technical issues. The system, known as UG Support, was officially launched on 5 March 2026, marking an important milestone in modernizing IT support services at the Authority.
The new platform introduces stronger authentication and automation features that allow service tickets to be logged, tracked, and managed more efficiently. By providing a centralized environment for handling support requests, the platform enables the Service Desk team to monitor incidents more effectively and ensure faster resolution times. The structured system also improves accountability by clearly assigning and tracking tasks within the support process.
In addition, the platform creates a clearer communication channel between users and the NITA-U support team. Instead of relying solely on emails and phone calls, users can now report incidents through multiple integrated channels within the system. This provides users with greater flexibility when seeking technical assistance while allowing the Service Desk to manage all requests within a single coordinated platform.
The UG Support platform was developed over nearly a year of planning, testing, and refinement before it was ready for deployment. Throughout this process, the system was designed in alignment with the principles of ISO/IEC 20000, a globally recognized framework that guides organizations in delivering reliable and efficient IT service management.
According to Madeleine Mugisa, Service Delivery Specialist at National Information Technology Authority–Uganda, customer expectations around digital services have evolved, with users now expecting not only solutions to their problems but also a seamless and responsive support experience.
“What we count as customer experience is when a service touches all five senses,” she explained.
The new system is expected to reduce response times, strengthen communication between users and support teams, and ultimately provide a smoother and more reliable IT support experience across government digital services.
The author is a National Guidance Officer at the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance.
