Young civil servants hack real policy challenges
Watch some of the highlights from the tech-policy hackathon here!
Young Civil Servants Tech-Policy Hackathon in Johannesburg, South Africa, 6th December 2018
Artificial intelligence, communication technologies and data management services like blockchain are pushing the frontier for what is possible for countries’ growth and wellbeing. But how can we ensure that governments are digital ready? Current systems of government in many developing and developed countries are yet to embrace the rapid technological advances that have transformed businesses and other sectors. It is up to young and tech-savvy rising civil servants, who are brimming with fresh and innovative ideas, to seize this window of technological opportunity to revitalise governance and create inclusive institutions.
The Pathways Commission, in association with Absa, hosted a tech-policy hackathon in Johannesburg to solve real policy and governance problems faced around Southern Africa. The Commission’s academic director Professor Benno Ndulu - former Governor of the Bank of Tanzania - opened the hackathon, which was delivered in partnership with design thinking and technical experts from Singapore and Tanzania. Pathways Commissioner Maria Ramos (Absa Group Chief Executive) closed the day with a motivating and inspirational talk.
"Africa’s greatest resource is its youth. We need to ensure their perspectives, voices and ideas are harnessed so that government institutions can better use technology to benefit all communities.” - Maria Ramos
The tech-policy hackathon was a highly energised day which saw the young civil servants using the design-thinking method to hack tech-policy solutions to public service challenges. Some of the problems crowd-sourced from the participants included: digitizing access to legal aid in Namibia, minimizing illegal substance abuse among youth in South Africa, and tracking hospital and health centre performance for better decision-making in Lesotho. Innovative solutions were designed that leverage technology to revolutionise systems.
The 30 delegates came from 11 countries in the region, and including Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Namibia, amongst others. The tech-policy hackathon aims to provide a platform for continued engagement and idea-sharing for the delegates beyond the event, in order to leverage the expertise from this gathering.
