Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium Comes to an End in Nairobi

Nairobi, 09 September 2016

The Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium today came to an end at the Nairobi Safari Park Hotel. The 3-day event that saw over Over 400 participants attending came to an end with remarkable resolutions where the participants pledged continued commitment to education and training in information and communications technologies (ICTs) to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by leveraging major digital technology transformation.

The following is a short summary report prepared by the Chairman highlighting the main outcomes, conclusions and recommendations of the Symposium. The draft of the final report will be available on the ITU website by 23 September. The chairman urged the participants to visit the website and send their comments by 14 October 2016 to the ITU Secretariat, for incorporation into the final report.

Outcomes, Conclusions, and Recommendations

“We, the participants, have met here at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, from 6-8 September 2016, as delegates to the ITU Global Capacity Building Symposium 2016, under theme: “Embracing capacity building opportunities in the digital era”.

Led by the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya and Ministers, we had very fruitful discussions on a wide range of topics including:

• the role of capacity building in ICTs for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• fostering stakeholder partnerships between suppliers of training and the consumers of training;
• the emerging technologies in the digital era and the associated skills challenges;
• the new learning opportunities brought about by these new technologies; the role of Academia in driving innovation as well as providing capacity building solutions for the digital era; and
• the role of the ITU Centres of Excellence in supporting global capacity building.

The following are the highlights of the outcomes and recommendations drawn from the Symposium:

1. The Ministerial roundtable noted that capacity building in the area of information and communication technology, cutting across all sectors, is critical for the timely attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
2. The Ministers highlighted during the Ministerial Roundtable the critical role of ICTs as an enabler of education noting that they provide educational content in new, better and more effective ways. Ministers recognized that ICTs provided huge opportunities for the education sector as a whole and could address important policy goals such as access to education for everyone.
3.  The Ministers highlighted the importance of linking ICT policies and education policies, in order to address the institutional reforms necessary for ensuring the availability of the skills required in the digital society. A priority in this regard was the need to ensure capacity building in ICT is integrated in education.
4. Ministers further highlighted the importance of equipping people with the necessary ICT skills so that they can be part of the digital society. They noted the importance of a strong legal environment that fosters long-term policies for the creation of capacity building programmes in ICTs.
5. Ministers noted that governments were key players in ICT capacity building to ensure its objectives are achieved. An example was the involvement of the government of Kenya in supporting the digital literacy programme.
6. Ministers shared experiences of their countries and emphasized the need for renewal in the delivery of public services and bringing on board young digitally skilled people. They stressed the importance of partnering with the private sector to train public servants.
7. Ministers urged governments to lead in re-engineering and modernizing government; Governments were also urged to train decisions makers to build capacity for top-level executives to enable them support digital economy initiatives.
8. Delegates acknowledged that there were many stakeholders that played a role in developing ICT capacities at the national, regional and global level. These stakeholders need to work together to establish synergies in capacity building initiatives in order to achieve the greatest impact.
9. The Symposium noted that digital transformation was causing market disruption, which can be a good opportunity for fostering ICT market development.
10. The Symposium discussed the skills required for companies to turn the emerging technologies into business opportunities and creating new jobs, as well as the capacity building challenges arising from these new jobs.
11. Panelists further observed that while the digital economy will create many jobs, including among small and medium-sized enterprises, a huge digital skills gap was looming and one of the ways to mitigate this gap was to stimulate investments in the development of ICT capabilities in the new areas that demand new sets of skills.
12. As ICT skills become critical in the digital economy, there was a need to develop some global benchmarks for these ICT skills, as well as some tools for assessment, training and certification.
13. Delegates noted that the digital economy was also creating learning opportunities through technology tools such as mobile technology and MOOCs that could be leveraged for learning. MOOCs represented a viable channel to expand training opportunities to gain skills and improve people’s competitiveness in the labour market.
14. The Symposium observed that regulators played an important role in facilitating skills development in the ICT sector and in other sectors. 4 Digital inclusion should include imparting relevant ICT knowledge and skills. Universal Service Funds should be used to support digital skills programmes and initiatives in the digital economy.
15. Partnerships amongst stakeholders, especially between public and private sectors were important for capacity building programmes to be successful. The ITU Centres of Excellence model was a good example of capacity building partnership that should be supported and promoted.
16. The Symposium made particular note of the importance of collaboration in capacity building between industry and academia.
17. Finally, Universities were urged to adopt new innovative teaching methodologies that are in line with the recent developments in ICT, and prepare their professors for the needs of the millennials.

The participants expressed profound appreciation for the hospitality and facilities provided by the host country, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the Communications Authority of Kenya, which made this event a resounding success. Delegates also congratulated the ITU management on the organization of the event and urged to continue providing capacity building support, working together with Government, industry, academia and other stakeholders.”