- Emmanuel NIYIKORA
- Jonathan Mwakijele
- Caleb Rori
- Annitah Rodah Natwati
Intermediate
Event organizer(s)
Description
This four-week, online instructor-led training aims to build the capacity of African public sector leaders, policymakers, and ICT professionals to drive digital transformation in their countries.
The course provides a deep dive into the principles and practical implementation of modern Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), focusing on its core components:
- digital identity,
- payments, and
- data exchange.
Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how a well-designed DPI serves as a foundational layer for delivering integrated, citizen-centric public services.
The training is tailored to the unique African context, incorporating two country-specific case studies from Sub-Saharan Africa to highlight real-world opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned. Through interactive sessions, peer learning, and applied exercises, participants will develop tangible strategies and action plans to guide their national digital transformation initiatives. The course leverages content from existing ITU Academy training courses to ensure alignment with global best practices and ITU’s expertise.
This course is designed for senior government officials, policymakers, strategists, and ICT professionals from ministries and regulatory authorities who are actively involved in shaping national digital transformation strategies and e-government platforms.
Qualifications or experience needed to participate in this training course:
- A professional background in public administration, ICT policy, digital economy, or a related field.
- A mandate to shape or influence national digital transformation strategies, legal frameworks, or e-government platforms.
- Demonstrated interest in and a basic understanding of digital technologies and their application in the public sector.
Selection criteria:
- Relevance of the applicant's current role to the training's objectives.
- Potential to apply the knowledge gained to national digital transformation initiatives.
- Geographic and institutional diversity to foster rich peer-to-peer learning.
Number of available places for the cohort: 50
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Analyze the core components of DPI (digital identity, payments, data exchange) and their role in accelerating digital transformation.
- Evaluate the institutional, technical, and governance requirements for implementing DPI in a specific national context.
- Develop practical strategies and action plans for designing and deploying DPI-enabled digital services.
- Compare various DPI implementation models using insights from two country-specific case studies from Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Propose innovative funding and governance models to ensure the sustainability and scalability of DPI initiatives.
This training will use an experiential and interactive learning approach. The methodology combines online synchronous sessions (instructor-led) with asynchronous self-study and collaborative activities. Key components include:
- Instructor-led sessions: Live sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays for lectures, Q&A, and expert discussions.
- Case studies: In-depth analysis of two country-specific DPI implementations to understand real-world successes and challenges.
- Group projects: Participants will be assigned to groups to work on a scenario-based exercise, such as designing a DPI use case or conducting a gap analysis for their home country.
- Discussion forums: Weekly thought-provoking questions will be posted to encourage peer-to-peer learning and exchange of experiences.
- Quizzes: Weekly quizzes on Fridays to assess knowledge retention and application.
The course assessment is structured across different activities, each contributing to the final grade.
- Weekly Quizzes (3): 36%
- Weekly Forums (4): 16%
- Group Project (1): 28%
- End of Course Individual Assignment (1): 20%
Together, these components make up 100% of the overall grade. A total score of 70% or higher is required to obtain the ITU certificate.
All live sessions will take place from 15:00-17:00 EAT, on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Module 1: Introduction to DPI – Concepts and Principles (Week 1, Monday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Explain the definition and core components of DPI (digital identity, payments, data exchange).
- Analyze the economic and social rationale for investing in DPI, particularly in the African context.
- Differentiate between DPI and other forms of digital government initiative.
Module 2: Architecting a National Digital Identity System (Week 1, Wednesday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Compare foundational and functional digital ID models and their suitability for different national contexts.
- Identify key governance, policy, and inclusion challenges associated with digital ID systems.
- Propose measures to safeguard privacy and build public trust in digital identity initiatives.
Module 3: Digital Payments and Data Exchange (Week 2, Monday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Differentiate between various digital payment systems and evaluate their suitability for public sector needs.
- Explain the principles of secure, consent-based data exchange and its role in integrated service delivery.
- Design a basic data flow for a cross-government service and identify key interoperability requirements.
Module 4: GovStack and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) (Week 2, Wednesday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Explain the concept of Digital Public Goods and their importance for public sector digital transformation.
- Analyze how the GovStack approach uses DPGs to build modular, interoperable digital services.
- Evaluate the advantages of an open-source model (GovStack/DPGs) over proprietary systems in terms of cost, flexibility, and local ecosystem development.
- Conduct a deep dive on the GovStack building block approach.
Module 5: Sub-Saharan Africa Case Study 1: [Kenya] Digital ID System (Week 3, Monday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Analyze the specific architecture and implementation journey of a successful digital payments ecosystem for public services.
- Critique the policy and governance decisions that enabled or hindered the project's success.
- Extract transferable lessons from the case study to apply to their own national context.
Module 6: Sub-Saharan Africa Case Study 2: [Rwanda] Integrated Public Services (Week 3, Wednesday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Evaluate the benefits and challenges of a centralized e-service portal.
- Assess the strategies used for user adoption, including digital literacy and accessibility.
- Identify the critical success factors in the project's governance and public-private partnerships.
- Evaluate how a country used DPI to create a seamless, integrated public service.
Module 7: Governance, Funding, and Safeguards (Week 4, Monday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Analyze the specific architecture and implementation journey of a successful digital payments ecosystem for public services.
- Critique the policy and governance decisions that enabled or hindered the project's success.
- Extract transferable lessons from the case study to apply to their own national context.
Module 8: National Roadmap Capstone: Developing Your National Roadmap (Week 4, Wednesday, 15:00–17:00 EAT)
- Synthesize all course learnings to develop a comprehensive national action plan for DPI.
- Articulate a clear strategy for DPI implementation, including technical, governance, and financial aspects.
- Receive and provide constructive peer feedback to refine their plans.
Tutors
Registration information
Unless specified otherwise, all ITU Academy training courses are open to all interested professionals, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, economic status and other diverse backgrounds. We strongly encourage registrations from female participants, and participants from developing countries. This includes least developed countries, small island developing states and landlocked developing countries.
