(SLENA, 27th October, 2021). Stakeholders from government, private sector, academia, and civil society met yesterday Tuesday (26th October 2021) at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel to validate the draft National Digital Development Policy. This document has been developed with support from development partners and the collective inputs from diverse stakeholders across Sierra Leones digital ecosystem consisting of public and private sector.
Over the past years, Sierra Leone has not fully leveraged the opportunities associated with the uptake of digital tools and services to drive its economy. The goal of this policy is to create the enabling environment upon which national digital transformation initiatives will be anchored. The National Digital Development Policy is a strategic document that aligns with the governments Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019-2023 of building a digital economy and leveraging ICT to stimulate growth in all sectors of the economy. It will further support Sierra Leone’s drive to be a globally competitive economy in the knowledge and information age.
Several years in the making, the Policy when approved will serve as a blueprint for the Government to develop citizen centric strategies and mobilize resources for crucial digital transformation needs. Following the approval yesterday, the Government and its partners outline an operational strategy and mobilize financial resources needed to make Sierra Leone’s digital transformation a reality
The National Digital Development Policy that was finalised yesterday contains five (5) essential pillars where investment is needed and will focus on five cross-cutting thematic areas outlined in the table below:
According to Mohamed Jalloh, Director of Communications at the Ministry of Information and Communications, the government of Sierra Leone is partnering with Smart Africa Alliance and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL).
“With their continued support, the Government in the coming months will develop the National Digital Development Strategy, Digital Government Roadmap and support Responsible Data Use work.” He added
