THE Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Dr Faustine Ndugulile has urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to champion digital solutions that will help addressing society challenges in areas such as health, education and agriculture.
He was speaking during the launch of a report on the overview of Digital Ecosystem, Emerging and Applied Technologies on NGOs in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. The report was prepared by Convergency Media and launched in partnership with various stakeholders, including UNDP.
Dr Ndugulile said that NGOs and the public sector need to adapt to digital change lest they remain irrelevant because digital transformation is inevitable.
“We want Tanzania to become a hub of skills and on that backbone… we will soon introduce a Privacy and Data Protection Law for good reasons,” he said.
He noted that the new law does not intend to muzzle but rather protect individuals’ privacy and shield people from cyber bullying and other offences.
During the occasion, UNDP Resident Representative, Christine Musisi, also challenged NGOs to migrate to digital technology, saying that digitization is important for efficiency and transparency.
Ms Musisi further said that the current context requires not for profit organisations to operate with an entrepreneurial mindset.
“Gone are days when there was a huge pot of money to support NGOs, the current context requires smart partnerships and strategic cooperation,” she said.
She added that there is the need to synchronize data and analytics and forge strong partnerships with the innovation ecosystem for purposes of development.
Media Convergency Chief Executive Officer, Asha Abinallah, said that the report intends to clearly indicate that it is imperative for an entity or an organization to fully understand and realize their internal digital ecosystem.
“An accurate state of an organization relies on a Digital System Audit to be conducted. This digital systems audit provides a report that describes insights emerging or available technologies to help capture data, automate procedures, analyze information and focus on the real risks for immediate mitigation,” she said.
Abinallah added that the most crucial aspect of making digital audit a success is complementing the exercise with ensuring an application approach accompanied by the availability of the right internal capacities, applied technologies and expertise.
“Without the necessary skills and applications of the newly applied Digital Solutions, the organization’s team may not be able to make best use of the invested new technology,” she said.