On June 7, 2019, the Ministry of ICT and Innovation hosted a Forward looking Joint Sector Review forum bringing together key partners in the ICT sector to discuss on achievements so far and priorities going forward. The forums bring together all Sector Working Group stakeholders to engage in policy dialogue and to ensure ownership, accountability and transparency of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) implementation and monitoring process.

The Forward Looking Joint Sector Reviews had four main objectives which are to present and discuss areas prioritized during the planning and budgeting process, to discuss and validate the 2019/20 sector targets and related policy actions, to select policy related studies to be conducted in 2019/20 fiscal year and to assess progress towards implementation of the 2018/19 policy actions.

During her opening remarks, Ministry Permanent Secretary; Claudette Irere thanked all the participants for their contribution in uplifting the sector, and mentioned some key highlights marked during last fiscal year. Highlights mentioned include the launch of Rwanda Coding Academy, Andela started operating, Digital Ambassadors Program was rolled out countrywide, Kigali Innovation City became a Special Purpose Vehicle & Africa50 came on board.

“We were able to connect more than 2,000 public institutions through One Government Network Programme, we got a new manufacturing and assembling plant of smart phones: Mara Phones, we launched the Tech women campaign in Rubavu District, we got a new center for digital solutions for sustainable development in partnership with GIZ and we launched Icyerezo Satellite.” Added PS Irere.

Some of 2019/2020 priorities presented by the Ministry consist of Digital Government transformation project including smart administration, single Digital ID, Digital Government platform, Open Data portal, implementing One Government Network in which 1072 public institutions will be connected to 4G and more. In Digital skills project, there will be implementation of Digital Ambassadors Programme in which 52,000 citizens are expected to be trained.

Additionally, PS Irere put an emphasis on key priorities. “Connectivity and infrastructure are going to be our major priority. Innovation and business development, capacity building and skills development, we will also get started with emerging technologies”