Gaining traction as intellectual networks made up of diverse IT leaders, African 娇色导航clubs work to innovate and clean up the digital environment, all while promoting digital skills and literacy.
CIOs agree on the indispensability of innovation, and depending on the degree of importance and urgency, they鈥檙e getting more involved with like-minded people organized not just within their companies, but on a national scale to positively impact the digital environment for the long term. The influence of these 娇色导航clubs, due to demand, is steadily growing.
鈥淒igital innovation represents a lever to accelerate value creation, helping to improve competitiveness and enhance organizational performance,鈥� says Lisette Ebondzo, 娇色导航of the Ministry of the Civil Service, and president of the 娇色导航Club in the Republic of the Congo. 鈥淎s such, the 娇色导航must be able to evaluate, propose, and deploy technologies and technological uses likely to contribute to the achievement of the organization鈥檚 strategic and operational objectives.鈥�
To take advantage of this, the club contributes to the development of digital uses in the workplace, and promotion of the information systems manager. It also helps stimulate the digital economy in partnership with the national chamber of commerce, and every four months, it organizes a ministerial meeting during which a company is invited to share feedback on a digital innovation project that鈥檚 had a positive impact on the company.
It also pilots a digital transition project for SMEs, designed to provide the same digital tools as those available to large multinationals, according to Ebondzo. Training and supporting young people in digital entrepreneurship is foundational as well, with the aim of promoting the emergence of innovative start-ups equipped with the digital capabilities as SMEs. Supporting digital innovation in the service of the Congolese civil service is also integral for members with the State Human Resources Management Information System (SIGRHE), now a national project financed by the World Bank.
Immediately to the west, Gabon, a country located in the same Central African sub-region, is headquarters for the African security and information experts club, CESIA, a club of experts made up of CIOs,聽CISOs, and other IT leaders.聽鈥淒igital innovation is a real economic lever here,鈥� says Didier Simba, founder of CESIA. 鈥淚t undoubtedly enables companies and industries to increase their productivity.鈥�
However, in his view, digital vulnerabilities remain, which African companies and governments shouldn鈥檛 underestimate.
鈥淭elecommuting, nomadism and shadow IT are widely installed in our work habits, but for digital security professionals, these practices present risks,鈥� says Simba. 鈥淲e strongly recommend using new technologies and digital innovation to help boost business productivity.鈥�
Farther northwest, in Senegal, the national 娇色导航club brings together IT managers and engineers from the country鈥檚 private, semi-public and public companies, and sees innovation as an opportunity for development in the broadest sense. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for the creation of both intellectual and economic wealth,鈥� says Arnaldo Ribeiro, the club鈥檚 president. 鈥淗ere, we believe that innovation must be a permanent challenge to boost creativity, develop talent, offer innovative services, and create jobs.鈥�
Innovation is achieved through events and awards organized by the club and counterparts in other nations.
鈥淲e encourage potential candidates to participate in scientific committees and juries,鈥� says Ribeiro, noting that another ambition is to create an incubator to boost talent. 鈥淚t must be recognized that financial means are an important factor, something that is generally lacking due to limited resources.鈥�
Retaining talent: an ongoing challenge
In the Maghreb, innovation is a daily campaign alongside the search for talent, according to Haithem Abdelkefi, general secretary of Tunisia鈥檚 娇色导航Club. To support this campaign, the club aims to raise the profile of innovative initiatives both nationally and internationally to draw in skilled people.
鈥淲e promote the IT ecosystem in Tunisia and abroad in association with other African 娇色导航clubs and internationally, mainly with France and Germany,鈥� he says.
He sees this as a way of cleaning up the country鈥檚 technological ecosystem to help combat a thorny problem reported by many business sectors in Africa: the brain drain.
鈥淢any Tunisian graduates are unfortunately absorbed by foreign countries, where they鈥檙e hired once they pass their baccalaureate,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have between 5,000 and 8,000 graduates every year, which is a huge number, and Tunisian families do their utmost to save money in order to send their children to complete their studies and have a professional career outside the country. Generally speaking, the typical career path of a young Tunisian IT graduate is to gain a little experience locally and then move to Europe or North America.鈥�
Those people sometimes go back to their native country years later with interesting projects, according to Abdelkefi, but don鈥檛 find the economic situation attractive. 鈥淲ith the shortage of IT resources, this is problematic and makes it difficult to find resources,鈥� he adds.
To remedy this, the Tunisian 娇色导航Club has set up a range of activities.
鈥淲e organize two types of events,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he general ones deal with an array of things and take place over several days, or theme days spread over a long period. The aim is to keep abreast of technological developments, and we try to move away from the everyday to more cutting-edge themes, with top-level international speakers.鈥�
Afterworks is the other event, and helps retain local talent, and is dedicated to the treatment of particular subjects with smaller groups of people. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of bringing skills up the ladder via training courses for members, paid for by the backers,鈥� he says. 鈥淚mproving the climate encourages talent to stay and brings back people from the diaspora.鈥�
For the Congolese club, the brain drain has become a structural problem, far beyond the remit of a CIO-type association.聽鈥淧eople legitimately aspire to a good job, in good conditions with a good salary,鈥� says Ebondzo. 鈥淯nfortunately, the grass always seems greener on the other side.鈥�
Is digital illiteracy under control?
CESIA founder Simba explains that they鈥檝e set up what they call colleges, or are groups of a few members working on a particular theme with the aim to produce a deliverable outcome for the general public. 鈥淔or example, one of the colleges is working on an African comic strip on cybersecurity to raise awareness of issues to young adults, and may encourage vocations among this young population,鈥� he says.
This activity also serves to contribute to the decline in digital illiteracy in many African countries, something that still needs to be prioritized. More initiatives are springing up to raise awareness of digital technology, which he believes is now part of daily lives. The 娇色导航clubs are certainly a way to help solve the problem.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not uncommon to see these initiatives go even to remote areas in several African countries,鈥� Simba says, adding that CESIA regularly organizes awareness-raising workshops. 鈥淭he African cybersecurity barometer we publish every year enables us to take stock of the situation, but also to raise awareness across the continent on related issues and thus fight against this digital divide.鈥�
For Ebondzo, president of the Congolese 娇色导航Club, this problem is real, but it doesn鈥檛 just affect the African continent in particular. 鈥淢any countries, including in Europe, are no exception, even if it must be acknowledged that the scale of the phenomenon is not the same everywhere,鈥� she said, reporting that her club trains and supports young people in digital professions, with or without a diploma. 鈥淲e act by participating as a player in government initiatives to reduce the digital divide such as the Project of聽Digital Transformation Acceleration Program聽(PATN),聽the Universal Electronic Communications Access and Service Fund聽(FASUCE) and private initiatives.鈥�
In Senegal, Ribeiro has observed a lack of digital integration in education, and believes the initiative to reverse it must come from the government and alumni associations. For the club he heads, it was a question of participating, at the invitation of partner universities, in reforming training programs. 鈥淥ur professional experience and knowledge of the needs of our companies enable these training centers to meet the expectations of companies, and new graduates thus have more job opportunities,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e also offer internships to students during their training. Some of our members also teach courses at various institutes. Wherever possible, we favor local expertise when it鈥檚 available.鈥�
For Tunisia, though, Abdelkefi believes digital illiteracy there is less of an issue than in other countries. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a fairly significant penetration of technologies in our society in general,鈥� he says. Also, the awareness-raising sessions for the general public organized by his club contribute to this literacy effort, he adds. 鈥淲e get a lot of feedback on the 娇色导航and CISO professions to give students a taste of professional life and what interests them,鈥� he adds.
