Mr Philip Besiimire

A session on Building Connected Communities: Navigating the Digital Transformation Era is a discussion among experts on how digital technology can be used to build connected communities. The focus is on exploring the opportunities and challenges of the digital transformation era and how it affects community building. The session brings together community leaders, policy-makers, technology experts, and other stakeholders to discuss the following topics: The role of digital technology in community building, including how it can enable collaboration, communication, and engagement among community members. The impact of digital transformation on community development, including how it can create new opportunities for economic growth, social inclusion, and cultural exchange. The challenges of digital transformation, such as the digital divide, cybersecurity, privacy concerns, and the need for digital literacy. Strategies for overcoming these challenges, including public-private partnerships, digital education and training programs, and community-based initiatives. Best practices for building connected communities, including the use of digital platforms, social media, and other tools for fostering community engagement and participation. Overall, the session aims to provide insights and practical guidance on how digital technology can be harnessed to build connected and resilient communities, and how stakeholders can navigate the challenges of the digital transformation era to achieve this goal.

To fully harness the potentials of data for economic and socio-economic value creation, public sector actors need to create both regulatory and non-regulatory enabling environment through the development of data strategies/framework. In this session, we will discuss what value generation in the data economy means and the opportunities it presents for African countries. We will also discuss some enablers and safeguards of data driven value creation in the African context. We will present the components and activities of the Data Economy Initiative in Africa, particularly some of our collaborative work with relevant digital ecosystem actors in Kenya. In addition, we will also present the initiative's collaborative project with Smart Africa Alliance aimed at enhancing the conditions for a data-driven value creation, to directly impact economic growth in African countries. We will focus on the results of our joint work in Senegal with the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunication and Digital Economy in developing a Data Economy Strategy that is designed to be scaled up to other countries members of Smart Africa Alliance.”