DATE / TIME:

2018•05•22    10:00 - 11:00

Location:

Guimarães

Challenges and opportunities in building an inclusive digital society

Speaker

More Ickson Manda is currently a Government Fellow at the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV). In South Africa he is the Head of the Knowledge Management Unit at the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (MERSETA), an agency of the Ministry of Higher Education and Training. In his role, he is responsible for enterprise content management, data management, and governance and innovation management.

More has over 10 years of experience in ICT, Research and Knowledge Management in various sectors which include Public Services, Higher Education, Non Profit Organisations, and Innovation, Research and Development. He is also a PhD (Information Systems) candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He holds a Master of Information Technology from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, a BSc (Hons) Information Science, as well as certificates in Advanced Strategic Management, Business Analysis and Entrepreneurship. His research interests include e-government, smart cities, ICT and telecommunications policy in developing countries and digital transformation in government and society.

Abstract

Technological developments in the 4th industrial are characterized by a fusion of technologies that are blurring the lines between the physical, the biological, and the technological dimensions (Schwab, 2016). These developments have disrupted every sector and demand that governments implement relevant mechanisms to realize the potential of the digital society. The digital transformation of the public sector brought by these rapid technological developments promises better life for citizens through improved service delivery, efficiency, and better governance.

Governments around the world are implementing policy reforms to support the vision of inclusive, digital, and smart societies. Governments are embracing digital transformation as a strategy for improving governance, operational efficiency, service delivery and building an inclusive, citizen centric, and development-oriented society. Governments are also developing policies in response to pressure from citizens and the international community. Policy reforms, as a regulative mechanism, play a critical role in the success of digital transformation initiatives.

This seminar will focus on policy reforms in South Africa, a developing country on the southernmost tip of the African continent. South Africa is one of the many growing number of developing countries in the Sub-Saharan region that is pursuing the digital transformation for inclusive growth agenda. South Africa has embraced the inclusive digital transformation agenda as one of its priorities and strategies for addressing socio-economic challenges, such as poverty and widespread inequalities. The seminar will highlight policies, strategies, and frameworks that have been developed by the South African government in the past 10 years in support of an inclusive digital transformation agenda. The discussion will highlight the successes and why some of these mechanisms have failed in advancing inclusive digital transformation.