Dreams Talks: Thank you for accessing this interview with dreams Talks for Africanian.com please tell us about this organization, what´s the Digital Foundation Africa, what are the main challenges that you see in the Digital scenario in our continent?
Foster: Digital Foundation Africa started as a dream and vision to see every African digitally enabled for the digital Africa, innovators, founders, policymakers, governments and stakeholders in within the continent is seeking to build.
The Foundation started in 2019 when we saw the need to unlock, recognize and celebrate the African Digital Ecosystem, and so we started the Africa Digital Awards but after the 2019 edition which was focused on just Ghana, the feedback we had from patrons across social media and other influencers in the digital space encouraged us to rebrand to Africa Digital Festival as the official annual event organized by the Foundation.
Digital Foundation Africa is a not-for-profit organization made up of digital mavericks that generates knowledge, strengthens technical capacities, and promotes dialogue around the effective use of information and communication technologies as vehicles for development with the aim of unlocking Africa’s Digital Future.
On our continent’s digital scenario, we at the foundation believe the digital ecosystem has some few challenges but we are gradually solving them. I would say we need more policy implementation, strategy plans, skills development must be 100% priority of all governments and funding innovations and research.
Dreams Talks: How do you define digital transformation during and after the Covid-19?
Foster: I believe COVID-19 has become a digital enabler for the African continent, this is because it is during these lockdowns that innovations from Africans has made a serious impact on businesses and so my view for digital transformation especially post covid-19 is that every business, government, and users will fundamentally increase, decisions will be relooked at and citizens will embrace every process that will make life easy for them.
Dreams Talks: What is your approach to leading digital transformation?
Foster: Adopt leading technologies to Integrate digital services to all aspect of business, Especially how your customer acquisition and organizational culture.
Digital transformation is about making life easier and so should our approaches to making things easier and comfortable through the experiencing innovations that would benefit societies and create impact.
Dreams Talks: Please could you provide examples of the most successful digital initiatives that you know or have led?
Foster: I am the team lead for Africa Digital Festival which is the signature event of Digital Foundation Africa. The Festival is about showcasing innovations, unlocking potentials, celebrating, and recognizing Africa’s digital Ecosystem.
And involved in several digital initiatives both in Ghana and other African countries.
Dreams Talks: What is the most influential digital technology in implementing digital transformation?
Foster: Influential technologies are a lot these days and so I cannot say Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, Blockchain, Robotics, among other digital technologies will change an organization’s digital transformation however implementing technologies, one has to look at the processes, people and the place of which this implementation will be done, and I believe they would achieve more.
Dreams Talks: How do you see technology evolving over the next ten to twenty years for the next generation of dreamers?
Foster: Africa’s digital ecosystem is in the growth stage and in the next decade I see Artificial intelligence and Blockchain changing the fintech, health, education, agriculture, and digital identity sectors of the continent.
Should we leverage on emerging technologies for the continent with good governance, implementation plan and an agreed consultational digital strategies from the ecosystem the next generation of dreamers would create the Africa we all want.
Thank you very much for your time Mr. Kofi, we hope to have you again soon.
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Dreams Talks for Africanian.com – Sustainable Leadership
Dreams Talks by Dreams Hub (Equatorial Guinea) is a project that was born with the intention of articulating a network of organizations and prominent people in the business, professional and cultural field, to foster a cultural movement that values the importance of Sustainable Leadership, as a basis for manage uncertainty, prioritizing the management of values, as a fundamental pillar of any society.
The conversations/interviews of key African and World leaders, will analyze and reflect on topics that will help shaping a better Africa, with an ultimate goal; the practice of futurism as a lifestyle. Giving priority to how our actions will impact the future of next generations, on our planet and universe.
We promote entrepreneurship from early stages of educational training, promoting the creation of a generation of young entrepreneurs, stimulating the generation of skilled employment and the creation of value at the intercontinental and international level.
