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The upcoming Connected Kenya 2023 Summit will provide a platform for counties to showcase their digital progress and discuss challenges faced in the digital infrastructure.

Under the theme “Role of Counties in Fostering Digital Economic Growth,” the county forum will focus on various topics, including counties’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) roadmap, ICT budget allocation- policy formulation, integrated ICT platforms, smart counties, and innovations.

This Year’s Connected Summit is meant to provide outcomes that will define how ICT will continue to enable Kenya to realize the objectives of the Government’s Digital Transformation Agenda, in line with Vision 2030 as well as the Kenya National Digital Master Plan (2022-32). 

The ICT Digital Masterplan 2022-2032’s second pillar, Digital Services, proposed accelerated automation and digitization for all government core services in both national and county governments. 

The government plans to begin digitizing over 5 billion government records. The county Forum will offer an opportunity for counties to discuss major issues and risks impacting the digital future and explore ways to hasten digital gains in all forty-seven counties.

Discussions will also center around accelerating digital business and e-commerce and closing the digital skills gap. 

According to the ICT Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo’s recent statement, Kenya has developed into a significant ICT hub as a result of the country’s coordinated efforts in digital technology.

“We are home to innovative and unique technologies, such as M-Pesa. This ground-breaking innovation has disrupted the Fintech sector, not only in Kenya but globally. Because of our robust digital ecosystem, molded by our enabling legal, regulatory, and policy framework, Kenya has become a favorite host to several multinational tech companies,” said the CS.

Counties such as Murang’a have partnered with Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom to fully digitize the provision of devolved services.

Nairobi County also recently partnered with Safaricom to develop an app that would help bolster revenue collection efforts.

The National Government, through the ICT Ministry, has installed 61 hotspots so far and aims to have at least two more in each county by June 2023. 

The government has also established a data center at Konza Technopolis for centralized data storage by all government entities. The development of a framework and guidelines to enhance security, protection, and cost-effectiveness is ongoing.

The 12th edition of the Connected Kenya Summit, hosted by the ICT Authority (ICTA), will take place from April 2nd to April 5th, 2023, in Kwale County. The theme of the summit will be “The Digital Economy: Endless opportunities shaping the future.  

This theme is especially significant since it supports the Digital superhighway and the creative economy, two vital government initiatives. The government’s top ICT priorities also include digitizing government services, going digital, and developing a workforce with advanced digital skills.

So, the Connected Kenya Summit 2023 will be crucial since it will give industry participants a fantastic chance to network and exchange experiences while looking for answers to problems in the ICT sector.

Huduma Secretariat and the Presidential Digital Talent Plan (Digitalent), both of which the government is implementing in conjunction with the corporate sector to develop the nation’s digital workforce, are some of the outcomes of earlier Connected Summits.

Huduma Center Initiative and the e-citizen platform, which is utilized to deliver e-government services, are also a result of previous summits.

The establishment of IT infrastructure for the benefit of its citizens and government operations has been credited to Kenya as one of the top African nations. 

Taking advantage of this, the government plans to spend heavily on ICT infrastructure, including 25,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas and 100,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cable.

The inaugural Connected Kenya Summit took place in 2009. Since then, it has persisted in uniting ICT thought leaders and experts under one roof by bringing together industry stakeholders from the private, public, and academic sectors.