Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya welcomes until May 21, 2022, the 9th edition of the Africities Summit on the theme “ The Role of Intermediary Cities in Africa in the Implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063 “.
This post-Covid edition will devote paramount importance to the influences of digital through a Digital Day to be held on May 18, with a focus on the impact of digital in the transformation of territories.
On the theme ” Digital transformation, a territorial challenge », the Digital Day conference, co-organized by UCLG Africa and 01Talent Africa in partnership with Deloitte and CIO Mag, will be held in plenary session with a succession of high-level speakers.
The participants will discuss digital, not only as a lever for territorial development, but also as an administrative tool and a catalyst in the equipment of the territories, let the organizers know in a press release noting that it will be on this occasion to answer certain major current questions, namely how to solve the question of the digital opening up of territories to avoid the digital divide? What role and place of human capital for a successful digital transformation? What are the prerequisites for initiating the digital transformation of decentralized administrations? Digital finance, an issue of inclusion in the territories?
The discussion panels will also give rise to exchanges on the subject of “ Smart Cities » and Innovation, on the basis of feedback, with successful examples such as Benguerir in Morocco or Bizerte in Tunisia, it is specified.
This conference will end with two major events, namely the creation of the first pan-African network of smart intermediary cities“ Network of Secondary Smart Cities “(NSSC) and the presentation of the barometer of the digital maturity of African territories “ African Smart Territory Index –ASTI.
According to the organizers of the summit, this barometer aims in particular to be a common benchmark, organized around essential functions such as feeding the territory, building and equipping the territory, providing the territory with basic infrastructure and services, ensuring the proper functioning of infrastructure and equipment of the territory, and above all to administer and govern the territory.
In total, approximately 170 sessions and several days of discussions are planned. There is climate day, diaspora and afro-descendant day, digital day, culture day, town planning day, housing day, women’s day, of Youth, as well as the Africities Forum on Trade and Investment.
They will each bring together the various stakeholders of the themes addressed, in this case mayors and heads of local authorities, civil society organizations, traditional authorities, representatives of the African diaspora, actors from the economic world, experts, researchers and academics, continental and international institutions.
Strongly involved in the organization, the Government of Kenya, the Council of Governors of Kenya (CoG) and the County of Kisumu have done everything possible for the success of this important edition placed under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Kenya. , HE Uhuru Kenyatta, specifies the same source.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the current Chairman of the African Union, and several other African delegations are expected in Kisumu.
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