The national and county governments have pledged to promote the growth of the digital economy in Kenya through creating a conducive environment to enhance service delivery for all Kenyans.
During a high-level meeting between the council of governors in Mombasa, ICT cabinet secretary Eliud Owalo said the two levels of government have agreed to collaborate closely with key stakeholders in the advancement of the digital economy through a consultative approach.
“In order to promote the growth of Information Communications and digital economy in Kenya, the National and County Governments have pledged to create a conducive technological environment to enhance service delivery for all Kenyans,” said Owalo.
Speaking in Mombasa they agreed that the Ministry of Information Communication and the Digital Economy and the Council of Governors to support the County Government in the process of automation of services to expand access of Governments services and data protection, including in the health management systems, GIS, and education information management system.
“Both levels of Government put in place strategies and enhance opportunities for young women and men to access and compete for digital and digitally enabled work. Additionally, collaboratively invest and leverage on technologies for knowledge- creation, capturing, sharing, utilization and evaluation for impact and scalability,” said Owalo.
The Cs also Owalo says the roll out of 25,000 free WIFI hotspots countrywide is taking shape as the state plans to accelerate digital transformation.
Owalo said the program currently at the advanced stage will be unstoppable targeting busy markets and Matatu terminus. He said WiFi programmes will help address inequity for marginalised communities that can't meet the high cost of data by creating numerous job opportunities that local youth can capitalise on.
He said that apart from digital village smart hubs in 1,450 sub counties,the government expect to give citizens access to the digital superhighway and services by providing 25,000 free public WIFI hotspots, under our Ji-Konnect WIFI Programme.
“The piloting is over, with close to the first 80 free wi-fi hotspots in place. We plan to go out full-throttle in the coming days. Here is one area where we could collaborate with County Governments to speed up access,” said Owalo.
The digital superhighway agenda involves collaboration with the World Bank, on a program dubbed the Kenya Digital Economic Acceleration Programme (KDEAP).
The program falls under the World Bank Moonshot Project. Under this project, everyone in Africa should be digitally connected by the year 2030.
“By June this year we shall have a minimum of two WIFI hotspots between now and June in all counties, the target areas are Markets and bus stations.
The resolution was made during the high-level meeting between the council of governors ICT and knowledge management committee, ministry of ICT, senate standing committee on ICT and sector partners held on 27th march, 2023.
Council of governors COG ICT committee chair Wesley Rotich agreed that County Governments to establish a minimum of two WIFI hotspots per county by end of June 2023 to target bus termini and markets.
“The two levels of Government to leverage on partnerships with the private sector and other development partners in digitizing and rebranding of the existing TVETs including vocational training centers and youth friendly institutions to help bridge the skills gap, improve quality and relevance of training and enhance their employability,” said Rotich..
