Smart Africa Digital Academy and Ericsson have announced the
successful completion of digital upskilling of 100 policymakers and regulators
across 19 African countries on the topics of emerging technologies to promote
and boost digital transformation across Africa through education and capacity
building.
Signed in September 2022, the collaboration aims at enhancing the digital skills of a target group of senior officials from ministries and
regulatory authorities, in charge of Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) by providing access to Ericsson’s global skills program – Ericsson
Educate.
In addition to access to
self-learning digital skills content, the Ericsson Educate program helped
deliver a series of webinars led by 27 Subject Matter Experts from Ericsson.
The collaboration ran from November 2022 to January 2023.
The specially curated
virtual workshops covered topics related to emerging technologies parts of the
Fourth Industry Revolution (4IR) such as 5G networks, the Internet of Things (IoT),
Network Security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML).
In her remarks, the Director
of Infrastructure, Skills, and Empowerment at Smart Africa, Thelma Quaye
explained that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is fueled by innovation and
knowledge, adding that technology offers a great opportunity for Africa to
embrace new opportunities to boost digital transformation and contribute to the
global economy.
“We are glad to see our participants benefitting greatly from
our collaboration with Ericsson, and we are looking forward to witnessing the
positive advancements that will be brought about,” she stated.
Fida Kibbi, Vice President
and Head of Marketing, Communications, and Sustainability & Corporate
Responsibility at Ericsson Middle East and Africa also remarked “We are happy
to see the fruitful outcome of our collaboration with Smart Africa Digital
Academy within such a short time period. Equipped with a deeper understanding
of how existing and emerging technologies work and how these can be best used,
the policymakers and regulators can enable the digital transformation of the
continent by creating the best conditions for citizens, consumers, and
businesses.”
