For the countries of the East African Community, the digital transformation presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The current development strategies of East African countries demonstrate the importance of expanding information and communication technologies (ICT) in driving socio-economic development.
A developed ICT infrastructure and qualified experts are key prerequisites for the digital transformation in East Africa. University education plays a particular role in qualifying these experts because qualification requirements are becoming more stringent in all branches of industry as digitalisation progresses.
In addition, in the context of lifelong learning, technical training courses for employees in the private sector are necessary to prepare them for the new requirements. Although several universities are already responding to the requirements of digitalisation, the courses offered have not yet been sufficiently tailored to the needs of industry and the public sector.
Effective cooperation between the private sector and universities has been lacking as for customization of context to prepare the students to what the private markets need is not yet there.
East African counties are in a digital and technological transformation, reflected by the growing number of people connected to communications and Internet services. This is having a profound impact on the region’s social, cultural and economic frameworks, through enhanced access to key services and improved productivity and efficiency across economic sectors.
Mobile technology is at the center of the East African’s region digital transformation. Mobile services today connect more people in the region than any other communications technology, with Internet penetration rate of more than doubled between 2013 and 2020, reaching almost 50 percent in 2020. That same year, about 90 percent of the population were using a voice telecom service.
In East Africa, technology development and the internet in particular now serve as a platform for improving international exposure, education, information sharing, innovation and enabling human capital development that allow technological markets to develop and integrate with daily services in a day to day businesses and government facilities.
It is a direct opportunity to integrate to a new and developing market for new technological services and innovations that are not yet exist in East Africa.
