Chief Innovation Officer engages Cabinet on the Fourth Industrial Revolution to improve policy and governance in Sierra Leone

State House, Freetown, Wednesday 11 September 2019 – The Chief Innovation Officer in the Office of the President, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, has engaged His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio and his entire cabinet on the fourth industrial revolution, also known as 4IR.

The theme was “Status Quo, Risks, Myths, Use Cases & Opportunities in Sierra Leone”.

While discussing ways of taking advantage of the revolution to improve
on policy and governance, Dr Sengeh said that his presentation was
informed by President Bio’s request for a digitalised governance system
as part of government’s national agenda for human capital development.
He said it was an opportunity for everyone to engage and learn because
it was about the future of the country.

He noted that 4IR needed
skills-based learning, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, grit and
coding, among others. He also said that there was the need to shape
university curriculum and train students so they could be able to
participate in the fourth industrial revolution, adding that his
presentation was part of the motivation to assess how and why things
were done in government.

“Some of the characteristics include big
data like call data records, government procurement data across
institutions, social media data and fishing transponder data. With cloud
computing, which means that a lot of the work we do sit on the cloud –
the internet, using artificial intelligence and drone imagery, we may be
able to significantly address our maternal mortality challenges,” he
said.

In an open conversation facilitated by the President,
members of the cabinet discussed approaches and used cases that were
relevant to their work underline how the proper and effective use of 4IR
would impact the lives of citizens.