Rwanda launches technology centre to drive Africa innovation | World Economic Forum

For the last 28 years, Rwanda has deliberately explored every avenue available to deliver national transformation through economic growth. Technology and innovation have been at the heart of our transformation. We expect this to become an even greater driver of our economic development in the coming years.

With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid innovations witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased urgency to develop digital and technological capacities to build more resilient systems for a healthier society and more sustainable economy. This is as true in Africa and the developing world as it is anywhere.

COVID-19 has revealed the true potential of digital technology. The status quo has been overhauled, a process that we previously thought might take 30 years, and in many places come about seemingly overnight.

The vision of a truly interconnected, borderless world now seems an imminent reality, rather than a distant dream. In the face of these rapid advances, our growing reliance on technology has been brought sharply into focus. With this, the need to rapidly increase Africa’s capacity to innovate is obvious.

While major investments from public, private and institutional investors are needed across the continent to galvanize this innovation – there is also another key area in which urgent action is needed.

African governments have struggled as much as any others in this respect. Yet this disruption has created a genuine opportunity for our continent. In this rapidly evolving context of technology governance, Africa can gain a significant competitive advantage.

We know this will be a crucial pillar to the development of our region in this new digital age.

One such example is a recent pilot on the responsible use of an AI-enabled triage service, which examined critical issues such as safety, accountability, and transparency – issues that can vastly differ in severity depending on the demography and cultural context.