Over 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the Connected Summit 2018 set for October 22 2018 at the Bomas of Kenya.
This year’s forum, which marks the summit’s 10th edition and will be held under the theme “Building for prosperity”, is expected to bring together Information and Communications Technology (ICT) innovators, corporate executives, financiers and key policymakers in the regional ICT industry for a series of high-level discussions geared towards nurturing partnerships that will spur the realization of Kenya’s development agenda.
Speaking during the launch event which was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi, the ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru emphasized the need to provide solutions on how best the country can leverage on ICT to drive the “Big Four” development agenda and boost Kenya’s economic growth.
“Technology allows people to leapfrog and I will be so happy if ICT can move the many projects we have in place that we realize our agenda within the next three years and not five years,” said Mucheru during the launch which was also attended by ICT Permanent Secretary Jerome Ochieng’ and ICT Authority Acting CEO John Sergon.
“We want to make it an international event so that we can continue to grow,” he added. “Many countries are aspiring to learn from the innovations we have implemented over the years and this will be a great platform to enable such collaborations.”
The CS outlined plans to digitize land operations, provide incentives for the manufacturing sector, deploy a robust heath management platform and establish a database for agricultural producers across the country as part of the government’s efforts to streamline service delivery.
First held in 2009, past Connected Summit events are credited with the birth of key public service innovations including the Huduma Centres, E-Citizen Portal, Digital Literacy Program as well as the National ICT Master Plan. It is therefore anticipated that this year’s forum will add to Kenya’s bucket of innovations under the Big Four Agenda.
