Govt committed to 4IR
With technology and the digital world developing at a terrifying rate, Botswana is determined not to be left behind.
To that end, Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe says government, through the Smarts Bots initiative, plan to cash in on the opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
“This requires the digital transformation of everything, including public and private sector resulting in fundamental changes on how we deliver services to citizens, customers, partners, and employees,” highlighted Letsholathebe.
The Minister was speaking at the Expo Dubai 2020 Digital Transformation conference over the weekend, where he reiterated Botswana’s desire to reposition itself as a knowledge-based economy.
“My participation at EXPO 2020 is to echo our sentiments in identifying and attracting the relevant organisations, partners and individuals who are willing to partner with us as we ease towards our ideals of transcending the middle-income status as a country,” he explained.
Letsholathebe revealed the Botswana Digital Innovation Hub (BDIH) will implement key components of the Smart Bots strategy through the Smart Bots lab established under BDIH and housing the Science and Innovation School of Excellence (SISE).
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“These initiatives will focus on the digital transformation of the public sector. My Ministry provides policy guidance and funding to facilitate research and innovation uptake countrywide. We view the Innovation month platform at Expo Dubai 2020 as a unique opportunity to expose our innovation ecosystem,” he added.
Innovation month (November) will feature some of the innovation projects that have benefitted from the Botswana Innovation Fund and moved from ideation to pre-commercial level.
“We believe they will have the opportunities to further refine their innovations from this experience,” Letsholathebe concluded.