In support of the university-wide Africa strategy currently in development, the first in a series of planned Nottingham Africa Policy Dialogue webinars held on Monday 26 July hosted by Emma Tayou (International Relations Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa) and Amanda Chukwudozie (Programme and Project Manager, Institute for Policy and Engagement).
The keynote speaker at the first event was His Excellency Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, current Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana. He spoke on “Digital Transformation in the Public Sector: Lessons and Opportunities from Ghana” taking the audience through Ghana's digitization drive and ambitions to positively impacting the lives and the Ghanaian economy, especially in the midst of the global Coronavirus pandemic.
Following the keynote address the audience heard from University of Nottingham academics. Professor Nicola Pitchford from the School of Psychology shared findings and recommendations from longstanding work using digital technologies to transform learning skills in Malawi and Dr Yan Chen from the School of Medicine spoke on digital patient engagement for cancer screening and plans for research with partners in South Africa.
The Honourable Dr Faustine Nduguile, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, United Republic of Tanzania, also joined the panel discussion sharing experiences from Tanzania. The event was thought-provoking in looking at the possibilities offered by digital transformation in meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 as well as achieving the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision for the continent’s development. From a policy perspective this looked at the roles to be played by private sector, government and academia.
In his closing remarks, Professor Robert Mokaya, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement emphasised that the event was not the beginning of but a continuation of engagement with colleagues and institutions in Africa. He said, “We are a global and outward looking university and everything that we do is intended to bring positive change to people's lives. At this very moment there is a team that cuts across all of our academic faculties and all of our campuses that is looking at a strategy of how we may deepen and enhance our collaborations. This dialogue is the first of many that we are hoping to have over the next 12 months.”
A recording of the event can be access here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/global/partnerships/africa-policy-dialogues.aspx
Through the Nottingham Africa Policy Dialogues, the University will highlight existing areas of research expertise whilst hearing from key policy makers and industry leaders on their priorities and activities. The next webinar will take place later this autumn. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact emma.tayou@nottingham.ac.uk
Posted on Wednesday 6th October 2021