Towards a digital transformation in the Horn of Africa

The Regional Technical Committee took place in Djibouti, in the framework of the European project Initiative D4D for Digital Governance and Cybersecurity (IDGC) for the Horn of Africa Initiative. During the first two days, the discussion focused on the second component of the Programme, on cybersecurity, implemented by Expertise France. The last two days were devoted to presentations and discussions on the first component: Digital Government, from which the FIIAPP is working on the implementation of a methodology and training plan on Change Management for Digital Governments.

The mission was attended on behalf of the FIIAPP by project technicians Víctor Martínez Pavón and Lucía Sanfeliu Mañes, as well as Félix Bellido Plá, an expert in change management, mobilised by the Community of Madrid for the development of the training offer and its subsequent delivery. Speaking about the project, the technician Víctor Martínez said: “We want this project to go further, digital transformation goes beyond digitising paper-based processes, it involves rethinking the way services are provided”. On the human component, the expert Félix Bellido pointed out: “In the end we are talking about people, as the driving force behind innovation, digitalisation and change management”.

State of digitalisation in Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti

During the Regional Technical Committee (RTC), the different members of the consortium held technical sessions on the roadmap, methodologies and profiles of the different beneficiary countries of the initiative. It was possible to verify the status of the digitisation of public services in each of the countries, highlighting the high level of involvement of Kenya, in addition to the numerous projects already underway in relation to the digitisation of the country. The two use cases to be digitised were selected: the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

As for Somalia, although it has a lower status in terms of digitisation of services, use cases have also been identified, namely the digitisation of the catalogue of government services and school certificates. Lastly, regarding Djibouti, as it is the country with which the roadmap is most advanced, it was decided to maintain a post-CTR mission, focusing only on the services to be digitised, which are construction permits and the electronic cabinet.

During the Committee, FIIAPP led two working sessions with the focal points from Kenya -Mr. Michael Odhiambo, Corporate Director of Shared Services at the Kenya Information and Communication Technology Authority- and Somalia -Mr. Zakarie Ismail, E-Government Implementation Advisor at the Ministry of Communications and Technology of Somalia. The objective of meeting with both was to specify the position from which they are starting for the implementation of the project and how best to intervene and train their public employees in terms of change management. To this end, a presentation of the methodology (under construction) and the identification of the roadmap to be followed were used. In both sessions, specific services were identified as well as potential beneficiary institutions of the change management training and the subsequent trainer of trainers.

Following the CTR, a mission was carried out with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Innovation of Djibouti (Ministère de l’Economie Numérique et de l’Innovation), partners with whom the implementation of the project is more advanced. The roadmap was planned, including possible dates for change management training and identification of participants. It was a very positive opportunity to establish direct contact with the team that is currently being recruited, and with whom we will work hand in hand, as they are responsible for the digitisation of government services. It was also essential to work in a cross-cutting manner with all ministries and departments.