Director of HSE Center for African Studies Andrey Maslov presented the e-Governance Knowledge Sharing Hub and Programme for Africa at the round table «Russia-Africa: Digital Transformation of Public Administration»
On December 15 2022, HSE Center for African Studies in partnership with the company Innopraktika held the round table « Russia-Africa: Digital Transformation of Public Administration » and presented there the concept of the e-Governance Knowledge Sharing Hub for Africa. The experts discussed suggestions regarding the contents of the e-Governance Knowledge Sharing Programme and presented reports on the prospects of cooperation with African countries in the digital markets.
Andrey Maslov, the director of the Higher School of Economics Center for African Studies noted that the main goal of the knowledge sharing is to improve public administration and replicate best practices and solutions, including the use of e-Governance solutions that are proven effective in Russia. Providing assistance in the development of legislation frameworks is among promising avenues for cooperation. In the introductory speech Andrey Maslov also stressed that ‘Russia has a sovereign ecosystem of digital solutions’.
‘Russia is among the global leaders of digitalisation in various fields, and the public sector is leading [digitalisation in Russia]. In the World Bank GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) ranking for 2020, Russia was placed in the top 10 in digitalisation of public services. This is something we can be proud of and share with other countries. Many Russian ICT companies are already reorienting to Africa. The launch of this programme is a win-win situation», said the deputy executive director of Innopraktika Anastasia Pavlenko.
‘We clearly see the lack of trusted mediators, communities to work with. This programme involves the development of such dynamic communities as well’, noted Dean of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs Anastasia Likhacheva.
The second secretary of the General Secretariat of the Russian Foreign Ministry Anton Spiridonov confirmed the support of the Russian Foreign Ministry for the Knowledge Sharing Programme for Africa. He also highlighted that the Programme goes in line with the preparation of the Second Russia-Africa Summit.
The expert of HSE Centre for African Studies Vsevolod Sviridov spoke about the work on the Digital Africa report which provides analysis of the long-term development of the ICT sector in Africa as well as of the experience of African startups. He also outlined the main challenges and opportunities for projects in partnership with Russian companies.
The HSE Institute for Public Administration and Governance experts (IPAG) – Head of the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration Evgeny Styrin and Deputy Director of the Office for Expert Analysis Ruslan Artamonov presented the results of the IPAG and the Centre for African Studies joint study of the potential for cooperation between Russia and African countries in the field of e-Governance development. The experts outlined the most and least developed services, as well as potential Russian solutions. Surveys on e-Government in African countries are being published on the Centre for African Studies website.
The event was also attended by representatives of Innopraktika foundation, Innotech, Rostelecom, and other experts.