The first edition of the conference dedicated to the problematic technological transformation of the public sector kicked off on Tuesday 28 March in Kinshasa. Organised by Africa Tech Invest under the theme "Africa, Make it happen", the event aims to offer public and private companies a platform to explore the opportunities for growth and development offered by African technologies and solutions. These innovations are intended to facilitate successful digital transformation and improve public management. The conference runs until Wednesday 29 March.
The first day of the conference will focus on themes such as artificial intelligence, infrastructure in the modernisation and digitalisation process, mining and energy, cyber security and digital governance. The aim of these discussions is to generate proposals that reflect the national ambition to put in place a policy that is innovative, pragmatic and adapted to the local context.
"The use of technology in our current reality is synonymous with improvement for our future nation. Africa Tech Invest, which has been in existence for some time, is a platform dedicated to reducing the economic costs associated with digital technology by putting forward innovative solutions. These solutions are designed to improve the performance of large companies and public institutions, and in particular to help improve the business climate. We firmly believe that the use of new technologies will firstly produce better results for us as individuals, then for our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more broadly for the 53 other nations that make up the African continent", said Magalie Tema Bemba, Managing Director of Temabe Global.
Representing the Head of State at the event, the Digital Advisor to the President of the DRC outlined the progress made in implementing the national digital plan to 2025. This includes the creation of the digital ministry, the introduction of the DRC's digital code law to secure investment in this sector, the establishment of a digital transformation programme to give the country's institutions a visual identity, and technological innovations within financial institutions with remote tax and e-declaration systems to optimise day-to-day public management. The councillor also mentioned the promotion and support of the digital ecosystem, with start-ups taking part in the Viva Technology trade show in France, where they were able to obtain funding opportunities for their solutions.
As one of the telecoms operators involved in the project, Vodacom Congo's Director of Regulation explained their approach to digital data management.
"Vodacom is one of the companies in the DRC that has taken this problem seriously. Five years ago, we established the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) internally to protect not only our subscribers' data, but also that of our agents, thereby ensuring their security. There are already regulations in place with the new Telecommunications Act, which sets out the principles in this area, and a second text is in the pipeline, namely the Digital Code. Implementing the measures in the Telecommunications Act or the measures in the Digital Code, as well as the Digital Code itself, will enable the DRC, if not already, to catch up and align itself with the standards of the sub-regions and regions to which we belong. This will mainly ensure the protection of Congolese subscribers' data", explained Kale Kalemba, Director of Regulation at Vodacom.
At the end of these two days of discussions, a roadmap will be drawn up with the aim of turning these objectives into reality by putting forward made-in-Africa solutions.
The closing session of this workshop, which brings together investors, innovators, African and international entrepreneurs, business leaders, opinion leaders, institutions and managers, will be marked by a series of demonstrations of solutions developed by selected companies. A matchmaking session will be set up to encourage potential partnerships between public and private sector players.
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