The government is committed to the digital transformation drive in a bid to boost the country’s economic growth and enhance the quality of public services across the board.
ICT and Innovations Principal Secretary (PS) Jerome Ochieng says the government is out to leverage on digital technology to spark innovations and economic growth.
Ochieng noted that modernization will equip government agencies with the means to improve socio-economic governance and provide people-centered services to the citizenry.
The PS observed that digital transformation is fast changing the way public and private sector businesses are conducted around the globe.
“We are determined to enhance investments in digital transformation in our drive to transform Kenya into a digital economy with citizens being the primary focus of this transformation,” said PS Ochieng adding that the government will continue to foster and hasten the transformation of the public sector into an actual digital government.
The PS said the government has identified ICT as an enabler in diversifying the local economy from resource-based to knowledge-based economy.
Ochieng said this while addressing participants at the annual ‘Connected Summit’ at the Leisure Lodge Resort in Kwale County running under the theme ‘Accelerating digital transformation’.
The connected summit brings together ICT experts from the public and private sector to engage, share knowledge and find solutions to society’s challenges through ICT.
The forum heard that Kenya is transforming into a globally competitive digital economy which can be seen in the mobile revolution acknowledged globally especially in the mobile money ecosystem, number of innovations occurring in the country such as M-Pesa, growth and investment in digital infrastructure and the immense growth in digital skills.
He said local consumers in Kenya and beyond are fast embracing digital technologies adding that public and private entities have no option but to follow suit.
“Digital government transformation has become critical for meeting the expectations of modern citizens and is thus part and parcel of our country’s digital transformation agenda,” said Ochieng.
Ochieng said the government has successfully developed many platforms such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), and the e-citizen that offers e-government services to the citizens in an efficient manner.
He said the country’s digital economic blueprint highlights digital government as a pivotal pillar in the mission to attain and sustain a ‘robust, resilient and secure digital economy’.
The PS said digital government will allow the population to access a wide range of services including education, health, tourism, governance, utilities and registration of companies among others.
“Many government agencies have focused on developing strategies that in addition to digitizing services will accelerate adoption and onboarding of innovations to improve not only their services to the public but also internal processes as well,” he said.
He challenged public institutions and county governments to take advantage of emerging and future digital technologies to address inefficiencies in the delivery of public services.
The PS said to facilitate the provision of e-government services across the country the government has continued to expand the reach of the National Optic Fibre backbone infrastructure across the country with over 9,000 kilometers already in use in all the 47 counties.
“In addition the recently launched National Digital Master Plan (2022-2032) will go a long way in improving our experiences when accessing government services through digital platforms and also improve overall efficiency across all of government,” he noted.
Ochieng said the ICT ministry is focusing on key areas of infrastructure deployment, digital services and mobile-first technologies to enhance public service delivery.
By Hussein Abdullahi
