Sierra Leone National Innovation & Digital Strategy
2019 - 2029
Digitization for all: Identity, Economy, and Governance
DIRECTORATE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
CONTENT
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
PHILOSOPHY & PRINCIPLES
- Philosophy: Digitization for All
- Digital Identity
- Digital Economy
- Digital Governance
- Principles
- Mobile-First
- Country-as-AI-Lab
- i. Applied Data Science for Governance
- ii. Evidence-based Policy Framework
- iii. Citizen-Centered Design
- Hybrid Technology Systems
SHORT TERM STRATEGIC ACTIVITIES
- National Digital Identities
- Applied AI for Governance
- Education
- Planning and Development
- Healthcare
- Justice
- Infrastructure
- Digital: Access to connectivity
- Legal: A framework for innovation
- Hybrid Systems: Designing for the edge
- Security
- Cyber Security and Quantum Computing
- Information Technology Standards
- Entrepreneurship and Society
- Incubators and Accelerators. Talk and Do
- Research & Development and Academia
- National Innovation Ideology: a Culture Shift
- Organizational Architecture
DSTI Last Updated: November 1st, 2019
Information System Authority 17
Data Protection 17
MEDIUM AND LONG TERM ACTIVITIES 18
CONCLUSION 19
REFERENCES 20
SL Regulation, Laws and Strategies 20
Other Regulations, Laws, Strategies and Reports 20
DSTI
Last Updated: November 1st, 2019
INTRODUCTION
Sierra Leone, like many African countries, has a very young population coming of age during the Fourth Industrial Revolution: an era both defined by rapidly emerging new digital media and by complex global challenges, including climate change, migration and widening economic inequities. Advances in science, technology and innovation are shaping the world faster than many industries and governments can or know how to react. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, and 3D Printing are some of the emerging technologies transforming the global economy, security and governance. These technologies, coupled with rapid automation, will create entirely new jobs while eliminating or significantly modifying many existing traditional sectors. This means all countries and governments must be prepared to be digital, and should create platforms for citizens to participate in this global economy. This transition to being digital led by Government and its partners, must be agile, well-directed, abundantly resourced, and critically secure. It should be accompanied by a vision that is developed with and for the people who will benefit from it.
The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), under the leadership of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, has developed a 10-year National Innovation and Digital Strategy (NIDS) (2019-2029) aimed at guiding Sierra Leone's investments, policies, and governance frameworks for the country's present and future development. NIDS situates Sierra Leone among regional and global leaders in the field of digital agile governance by focusing on effective service delivery, citizen engagement, and the digital economy driven by innovation and entrepreneurship. Such a transformation will reduce the cost of governance and reduce corruption while increasing national productivity.