App developers, policymakers and regulators have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda to promote mobile app entrepreneurship as a means to accelerate the development of ICT applications in areas such as education, health and other sectors.
The Commonwealth ICT Applications Forum ’17, organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and hosted by the Ministry of Youth & ICTs, Republic of Rwanda, will showcase the work of app entrepreneurs and hear how policy and regulation can foster innovation.
Shola Taylor, Secretary-General of the CTO said “ICT applications offer enormous potential to enhance socio-economic development,” noting that “We have assembled in Kigali to discuss how innovative ICT apps can assist communities, enhance national economic growth, expand national ICT industries and promote understanding between people and communities.”
In a statement emailed to Business Hilights, CTO said fuelled by the rise of smartphones, phablets and tablets, the global app industry is expected to be worth around US$190 billion by 2020.
Speaking at the opening of the event, Honourable Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth & ICT, Republic of Rwanda outlined the potential for the app economy.
“The app economy means what? It means lives saved,” said Honourable Nsengimana. “Apps are saving lives; farmers are being empowered; education is being improved; governments are being made to be responsive and responsible.”
Honourable Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth & ICT, Republic of Rwanda
The statement noted that key expectations to enable the app economy discussed at the event so far include calls to reform the education system and create programmes that foster public and private partnership applications; Demands for platforms to develop and share local knowledge more easily; Attractive fiscal policies for start-up technology companies;
Support for national infrastructure for applications such as e-government, e-transactions and e-health to be put in place; Clearer policies for data centres as the data are stored in cloud;
National cybersecurity, solid judicial systems and institutional readiness.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Andrew Rugege, Regional Director for Africa, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said:
“The Commonwealth ICT Applications Forum 2017 is one of the gateways and opportunities for us to ensure that Africa does not once again get left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
The Kigali event, which is also supported by telecommunications regulator Rwandan Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), is part of a wider effort by the CTO and member countries to promote the use of ICT applications for socio-economic development in areas such as e-governance, e-health, e-education and e-agriculture.
It would be recalled that CTO is the oldest and largest Commonwealth intergovernmental organisation in the field of information and communication technologies. With a diverse membership spanning developed and least developed countries, small island developing states, and more recently also the private sector and civil society, the CTO aims to become a trusted partner for sustainable development for all through ICT.
