Senegal seeks to fully align sovereignty vision with DPI strategy

Senegal's Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Economy convened stakeholders in Dakar recently to review ongoing efforts of putting in place a Government Enterprise Architecture (EAG), a framework that seeks to strengthen the country's digital sovereignty efforts and overall national digital transformation ambitions. The EAG is part of the country's New Deal Technologique digital public infrastructure (DPI) strategy which the government launched last year , the ministry said in a statement. During the event, stakeholders drawn from different sectors had the opportunity to share perspectives on how to align initiatives under the DPI strategy with Senegal's sovereignty and citizen-centric digital ecosystem push. The country aims to assert its technological independence through local control of key technologies like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, which is what many other nations around the world are currently doing as they build their digital infrastructure systems. According to the government, the EAG will serve as "a common reference framework to ensure coherence among public policies, business processes, data, applications, and the State's digital infrastructure." Presentations during the exchanges cited some of the challenges related to "government enterprise architecture, interoperability of information systems, and the national digital identity." These challenges have been identified in past assessments, which noted that multiple government platforms remain siloed, making integration and interoperability a key priority. The government says it intends to draw up a comprehensive listing of all digital systems in the country and feed them into the EAG framework so as to improve coordination of digital projects, and enhance the effectiveness of public action through streamlined digital governance. A digital governance steering committee, dubbed GouvNum, is part of the plan. It has been created and will be operational in the near future as the body to oversee all digital transformation initiatives across the country. In March, the Senegalese government, through then Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, launched a number of digital initiatives under the New Deal Technologique including a digital government platform which was rolled out to facilitate access to a wide range of government services. What exactly is the New Deal Technologique? It is a digital infrastructure development blueprint designed to run till 2034, and falls within the broader plan of the "Senegal 2050" national transformation agenda which seeks to build a modern and highly prosperous nation. It is structured into a Digital Master Plan that consists of 12 priority programs and about 50 key projects that are being deployed to reach the 2034 targets. Per the strategy which will be funded by an estimated $1.7 billion, achieving digital sovereignty is one of its four major pillars. The others are modernizing public administration, expanding the digital economy, and establishing regional leadership in West Africa. Under the public service modernization pillar, the government says it hopes to build a national interoperability system that will facilitate information and data exchange between public institutions to streamline public service delivery. A one-stop shop approach is what is envisaged here. In addition to a national digital ID system which Senegal has been strengthening including through experience sharing with Togo , the plan also includes the development of digital payment infrastructure and an e-signature system to facilitate service delivery. The key indicators The strategy also outlines clear and measurable indicators to gauge its implementation. By 2034, the plan, among other things, envisages at least 95 percent of quality and affordable connectivity, more than 80 percent usage rate of digital services, and over 90 percent of digital ID coverage for citizens and 80 percent of lands. It also aims to facilitate the creation of 150,000 direct and 200,000 indirect jobs through the digital economy which should also contribute at least 15 percent to the country's GDP, the labelling of over 500 tech startups, and full data sovereignty with 100 percent of all sensitive data hosted within Senegal. According to the strategy, achieving this milestone requires the putting in place of critical digital infrastructure, some of which is already being put in place.