EDITOR’S QUESTION
JAMES KIRIAMITI,
MARKETING MANAGER
FOR EUROPE, RUSSIAN
AND AFRICA, SIEMON
C
IOs and ICT professionals
across Africa have a very unique
challenge. On the one hand,
they are challenged to keep up with
global trends in technology and in
many cases tasked to innovate ahead
of the curve. On the other hand, they
face fundamental limitations that
stifle this innovation. Amongst the
many bottlenecks slowing down digital
transformation in Africa, I see three
core barriers:
1. Lack of knowledge and strategic
leadership. Many governmental
leaders, CEOs and entrepreneurs
fail to uphold a long-term strategic
vision that embraces and promotes a
‘digital first’ approach. Government
for example, is riddled with red
tape and bureaucracy that slows
down the promotion of innovation
and in some cases, blocks certain
technologies from thriving. We have
seen some cases where innovations
in banking and agriculture, with the
use of blockchain technologies, have
failed to get approval by central
bank regulators due to what can
only be interpreted as a lack of
knowledge or understanding of the
potential benefits of the technology.
To overcome this, government and
enterprise must work hand in hand to
develop mutually beneficial strategies
to empower local citizens. A good
example of this mutual collaboration
is evident in the telecoms and
banking sectors. The development
and use of mobile banking services
is helping millions of local citizens in
Tanzania and other parts of Africa to
www.intelligentcio.com
better their lives through services such
as M-Pesa and Tigo Pesa and Airtel
Money in Tanzania.
2. Investment in technical
infrastructure. Gartner predicts 50
billion connected devices by 2020,
with 60% of these devices being in
the developing world according to
GSMA predictions. The bandwidth,
storage and speed needed to
power these technologies is largely
dependent on investment in various
technical infrastructure programmes
that enable IoT, big data and cloud-
based technologies.
In my view, investment in
technical infrastructure is perhaps
the foremost barrier to digital
transformation in the majority of
African countries. Related to the first
point in this discussion, structured
long-term planning and strategy to
propel digital advancement could
be better and this is evident in the
lack of investment in technical
infrastructure across Africa. Until
recently, Wi-Fi hotspots for example
were unheard of and are still scarce
in many countries across the region.
In order to keep up with the surge
of big data applications and IoT,
countries such as Tanzania and
others across Africa must invest
in the high calibre data centres
and network connectivity to boost
digital transformation.
3. Security. Finally, security. There is
no doubt that the rise of technology
has, and will, continue to present
opportunities not only in Africa,
but globally. However, this rise in
technology also presents a very
serious security challenge which IT
experts have to address. Security is a
contributing factor to why adoption
in certain technologies in Africa
has been approached with caution.
Cybercrime has the potential to
disrupt any organisation through
malware and phishing instances.
CIOs and technology experts in the
region have the opportunity here to
alleviate the fear of cybercrime by
educating users and other parties
on how to secure their connected
devices and how to keep their
networks safe from attack.
As a global manufacturer of IT
infrastructure solutions, Siemon believes
in supporting digital transformation due
to the huge benefits that can be realised
through technology. By promoting the
development of intelligent buildings,
smart cities and other technical facilities
such as data centres, our solutions are
able to underpin efforts to better lives
through digital transformation. n
“Government and
enterprise must
work hand in hand
to develop mutually
beneficial strategies
to empower local
citizens.”
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