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Programos Foundation partners Global Digital Foundation on webinar for post-pandemic innovation development in Africa

Published 11 months ago

on May 21, 2020

ByModupe Abidoye

Programos Foundation in conjunction with Global Digital Foundation, Europe has rallied experts in the digital space for a Webinar centered on Digital Policies in the post-Covid-19 economies.

Programos Foundation is the progenitor of Innovationbed.Africa; necessitated by the result of many years of independent tech-trend scouting, innovation capacity mentorship and promotion, strategic e-planning and digital policy think tank research.

Global Digital Foundation; a think tank and policy network providing interdisciplinary framework for a 3-way dialogue between policy makers, stakeholders and scholars in support of an evidence-based approach to policy which is affecting the development and use of emerging digital technology, is supporting Programos Foundation on this move due to the relevance and importance of the theme

The presence of GDF in Africa is to advance relevant Digital policy awareness and grassroots education in Africa.

The theme of the Webinar scheduled for May 27, 2020 at 2pm (GMT+1 WAT) is: “Digital Policy: The Post Pandemic Fabric for Innovation Development in Africa”.

Speaking ahead of the programme The Director Africa, Global Digital Foundation, Founder, Programos Foundation and Architect (Innovationbed.Africa), Emmanuel Amos, said that the theme was carefully selected as COVID-19 has exposed the lack of robust digital policies in Africa.

He said that speakers during the Webinar will emphasize concerns regarding utilising and promoting the opportunities offered by digitalisation and includes regulation of digital and electronic communications, network and information security, frequency policy and issues concerning broadband access and digital infrastructure, amongst others.

Mr. Amos who is also the Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of ITAN, reiterated that Innovationbed ecosystem interacts with universities, government, corporations, startup accelerators, venture capitalists, private investors, foundations, entrepreneurs, mentors, and the media across the globe towards finding lasting solution to challenges faced by economies on the Continent.ALSO READ  NBCC, Edufirst.ng unveil plans for maiden EduTech conference

“This Webinar is in line with the fact that COVID-19 has made it very clear that the world needs collective efforts in order to achieve global development and to achieve the UN SDGs.

Innovationbed social media outlets and activities create an active flow of information and resources for ideas to transform into reality.

Innovationbed has in 10 years conducted a national pre-selection jury which rates innovative products and recommends them to the global database of the UN World Summit Awards.

Programos Foundation President, Emmanuel Amos, who is incidentally the Director for Africa on the Global Digital Foundation based in Europe finds it timely to initiate this International and Pan African talk in an approach that aim at six important benefits for Africa:

1. A better climate for digital innovation promotion in the public and private sectors.
2. Awareness that choosing overly-precautionary regulations over rules that target specific harms will limit the potential for digital innovation to do good in our regions.
3. Economic policies that anticipate and address the effects of digital disruption on traditional sectors.
4. Seizure of the opportunity to transform government and government-controlled sectors such as research, education, security, and public administration
5. Reposition Africa’s innovation projectile for better performance against the global innovation diameter
6. Policy to favour INNOVATION as essential and national asset in Africa

This is one of the many contributions by our foundation leveraging on strategic partnership with Global Digital Foundation headquartered in Belgium to attempt researching into what can fasttrack a sustainable African innovation ecosystem development with due promotion for sector transformations post COVID-19.ALSO READ  TOSSEtech exhibition to showcase tech for education transformation – Edumark

The outcome of webinar to do the following:

1. Assemble Evidence,
2. Create Understanding,
3. Aim For Consensus
4. Share report

Speakers:

Speakers for the Webinar

Renowned speakers have confirmed their appearance during the Webinar. They include:

Executive Director, Global Digital Foundation, (Belgium), Paul Macdonnel; Egypt ICT Expert, Vice CEO, Information Technology Industry Development Agency, ITIDA (Egypt), Ahmed M. El-Sobky; President/Chairman-in-Council, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and Past President Nigeria Computer Society (Nigeria), Prof. Charles Uwadia; CEO, Opporizon Global, Partner Innovationbed.Africa and WSA Grand Jury member, (Singapore), Daniela Alina Plewe (PhD); Director for Africa, Thunderbird School of Global Management (Kenya), Philip Thigo; CEO, Dial Technologies and WSA Grand Jury Member (Morocco), Zouheir Lakhdissi; Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Lead Consultant for UN ICT4SIDS and CEO NGE Solutions Inc, Amjad Umar (PhD).

How to participate:

The Webinar is open to all policy savvy public, but to participate you have to pre-register via the link HERE

This Webinar is also supported by ICT4SIDS – an ecosystem designed under some innovative pilots that was launched by the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT Development, UN-GAID to offer Africa a community-based collaborative digital innovation hub for social and economic transformations in rural, urban, regional, smart and connected more livable communities.

Programos Foundation and its resources have volunteered alliances in the last decade with UN partnerships like ICT4SIDS, World Summit Awards, and Global Digital Foundation policy think tank to research project processes that causes desired changes in Africa.