By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
The Ministry of Information and Communication on the 12th of January gave an update to press men on the Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project at the Ministries conference hall Youyi building in Freetown.
Speaking at the press conference the Project Coordinator Mohamed Jalloh said a 50 Million USD grant was received from World Bank for a period of 5 years in using digital technology to strengthen leadership, poverty reduction creation of jobs, inclusive growth and efficiency in our economy.
Digital Technology he said is a strategic tool to enhance productivity for inclusive and sustainable socio-economic diversification in Sierra Leone.
He went on to say that during his excellency’s maiden address in parliament emphasized the need to be a digitalize country stating that he would want to leave behind a digitalize and smart Sierra Leone that would be competitive in the industrial revolution furthermore stated that this project is powered by Digital Technology.
He also stated that the world has now moved to a digital economy and as such Sierra Leone should not be left out as he said the digital economy will help shape the economic challenges faced in the country thereby generating revenues and economic boost for the country.
Another reason he stated was for poverty reduction, job creation and inclusive growth in our economy.
He furthermore stated recommendations from the World Bank in which key highlights were topics of discussion.
Mr Jalloh said one of the recommendations from the World Bank is to Strengthen Leadership, Promote Institutional and Donor Coordination for digital transformation, and design and implement Information Communication Technology (ICT) enterprise and architecture to provide the foundation for digital transformation.
He also mentioned key beneficiaries he said will benefit from the project, as he stated that the project beneficiaries will be all Sierra Leoneans including individuals, businesses and government at Macro Level.
The project will also support and improve various sectors of work life in the country as he said there’s support for the cabinet to go fully digital as well as the Judiciary.
The project he described the building one
Mariama Yorumah the National Co-Ordinator for Cyber Security being the first female for this post updates the media on its activities on its visits to all relevant stakeholders engaged in the fight against Cyber crimes as she said these stakeholders want to understand the countries landscape and in improving the available gaps as she listed these relevant stakeholders such as the Justice Ministry, the SLP, ACC and more.
As UNODC’s main aim is to capacitate and support these enforcement agencies to efficiently fight these cyber crimes as she said they need this information to provide the requisite support.
She went on to say that there will be a two-day training session on Cyber Crime Investigation, this she said will be conducted for all Prosecutors in the country and will start to form the 16th-19 at the Radisson Blu with its main aim to combat cyber crimes, protecting government and to provide a safe cyberspace for all citizens to thrive in this digital age.