African trio leverages ICTs to attain UN goals
by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – KENYA, Morocco and Nigeria have received global awards for initiatives that utilise information and communication technologies (ICTs) to attain the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The trio of African nations was lauded at the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2018, organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland.
More than 2 500 ICT experts and implementation actors participated at the event.
Kenya won the e-farming category for the project titled E-voucher Systems: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions.
Equity Bank Ltd (EBL) has set up and operationalised the e-voucher platform through which farmers were able to access e-voucher package inputs.
Nigeria secured the e-employment accolade.
This is for the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) Address Verification System (AVS), a technology platform that empowers individuals, organisations and government institutions to verify physical addresses and the identity of the occupants or business that resides at the address in a sustainable and commercially viable manner.
Morocco won the e-environment category courtesy of Abdelmalek Essaâdi University Disaster Emergency System.
It is aimed at protecting civilians against serious threats or danger.
Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, said this year’s WSIS Forum demonstrated how ICTs could foster creativity and innovation to accomplish SDGs.
“After nine years of engagement between all WSIS stakeholders, WSIS Forum remains the premier global platform to make ICTs a critical driver of global development.”
– CAJ News
