Kenya’s Digital Transformation Journey

The second day of the Smart Government Summit kicked off with an interesting fireside chat with Mercy Wanjau, the Secretary to the Cabinet, as she talked about the government’s journey to digitization of services.

In the discussion moderated by Harry Hare, the Chairman of dx5, Mercy Wanjau talked about the journey to putting government services online, and accessible to all Kenyans. The Government of Kenyan now has 20,800 services online and Ms Wanjau says that it has been a long journey to achieving this with more still yet to be done.

“Implementing digital solutions in Kenya comes with several key challenges that need to be addressed effectively to ensure successful transformation. There are challenges like inadequate infrastructure to implement technologies, cybersecurity concers, battling with misinformation and disinformation,” she said.

She further suggested mitigation measures that need to be taken to address these challenges. On infrastructure, the Secretary to the Cabinet talked about the government’s Last Mile Connectivity project of laying 100,000km of fibre to expand broadband access to underserved regions.

On the issue of cybersecurity concerns, Ms Wanjau talked of the government’s National Cybersecurity Strategy (2022 – 2027), which focuses on enhancing security frameworks across all digital platforms. She further spoke on how the government needs to strengthen its institutions’ ability to detect and counter false information by deploying AI-powered fact-checking tools and launching public awareness campaigns.

The Secretary to the Cabinet, also talked about Kenya’s vision for digital transformation to strengthen what has already been done so far.

“Kenya envisions a digitally empowered society where public service delivery is seamless, efficient, and responsive to citizen needs. This vision emphasizes leveraging technology to enhance transparency, reduce bureaucracy, and facilitate citizen engagement. The aim here is to integrate digital solutions across government services, ensuring citizens can access information and services conveniently, thereby fostering greater participation in governance,” she noted.

The Smart Government Summit is now on its final day and still has a lot of speakers lined up for the day. Get to watch the sessions live on this link.