OWALO: Why digital economy is the critical game changer for Kenya.

I have now served as ICT and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary for just slightly over 100 days.

As I reflect upon this breathtaking period, I find that destiny has placed me in a position of great responsibility to my country. I bear the duty to steer Kenya in its primal journey of digital transformation, which is critical for sustained relevance in the emerging global space.

The prosperity of Kenya's dreams can only come our way, if we survive this journey, which needs carefully planned and sustained stewardship.

The world is, itself, on an irreversible digital journey.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a one-way ticket global affair, where digital technology is becoming the new way of life.

We cannot run away from cyberspace technology, complete with such components as big data, internet of things, robotics, artificial intelligence and, in a word, digital economy. The revolution is changing the world in a way never seen before, in scope and speed.

It is disrupting and reordering every industry in every part of the world, and indeed reordering life. Many things are now remotely. We can order and have a snack delivered to our doorstep. From the comfort of their homes, we can book flights, make payment and check in without talking to anybody. People now listen to music and watch movies of choice at home. They can call for the cab, shop, and do almost anything remotely.

There is going to be more of this in the days to come: It is going to be a completely new world order.

That is the world into which I have been tasked to lead Kenya. I am leading the ICT team to ensure we have the technology and the skills. But this team must also effectively communicate to make sure Kenyans understand what is happening and why they must be a part of it.

In the run up to the 2022 elections the Kenya Kwanza team undertook a countrywide consultative process to ascertain our development priorities.

Bringing down the cost of living, eradicating hunger, creating jobs, expanding the tax base, improving foreign exchange earnings and inclusive growth emerged as the most urgent interventions. ICT featured among the five key result areas with the potential to drive the rest of the priorities. It was seen both as an enabler and a critical success factor.

To appreciate the potentiAal of the ICT sector to turn around the economy, I will use India, an emerging economy, as a benchmark.

The share of the ICT and Business Process Outsourcing sector in the GDP of India was 7.4 per cent in 2022, with sector industries' generating revenues estimated at $230 billion (Sh28.8 trillion) in the same year.

The domestic revenue of the IT industry is estimated at $49 billion, while export revenue is estimated at $181 billion (Sh22.6 trillion) in 2022 financial year.

The ICT-BPO sector overall employed an estimated five million people as at March 2022. It is, therefore, conceivable that if the sector were to realise its full potential in Kenya, it has the potential to be an economic game changer.

Beyond economics, ICT has totally transformed the way we live, interact, communicate, work, learn, solve problems and do business. It has been aptly dubbed the fourth industrial revolution.

To realise the potential of the sector, the Kenya Kwanza government through the ICT ministry, has committed to implementing the Kenya National Digital Masterplan 2022-32, which has five key pillars to drive the digital transformation agenda. They are digital infrastructure, digital services and data management, digital skills, digital entrepreneurship and effective alignment to policy, legal and regulatory frameworks.

Simply put, we intend to make the internet accessible and available everywhere. This is the infrastructure.

Next, we recognize that for citizens to use the internet optimally, users on the demand and supply sides must have digital literacy (digital skills) for optimal uptake of the opportunities. The next task is to deploy the internet to connect citizens to government and to other critical services. We must enable communication (Digital Services).

Fourth, we have to facilitate trade (entrepreneurship and innovation). To validate digital processes, we recognise that making the switch from analogue to digital processes requires new policies, laws and regulations.

These key result areas define our Digital Masterplan, which subsequently inform the centerpiece of our work at the Ministry.

Under the digital infrastructure pillar, it is our proposition to lay 100,000km of fiber optic cable...