KIGALI, Rwanda, November 21, 2023 -- In a significant stride toward advancing its digital economy initiatives, the Smart Africa alliance and The Open Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a unified Enterprise Architecture guide for the African continent.
By working together, The Open Group and the Smart Africa alliance will aim to promote, guide, and build capabilities on the development of a cohesive Government Enterprise Architecture framework. Both organizations will collaborate to conduct a nationwide survey and host focus groups to comprehensively grasp the present status of Government Enterprise Architecture within the member states.
They will also jointly devise a strategy for enhancing capabilities and proposing targeted actions pertaining to Government Enterprise Architecture and associated domains to foster capacity development.
This partnership emphasizes the Smart Africa central objective to pave the way for a unified single digital market.
Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, highlighted: “Another key step towards achieving a single digital market in Africa has been made by joining forces with The Open Group today to build a Government Enterprise Architecture guide for the continent. This is another testament of our multi-stakeholder approach.”
“Global collaboration is at the heart of The Open Group, and we’re delighted to be partnering with Smart Africa to advance digital transformation practices on the continent. Our partnership will bring together the collective expertise of our Members as we aim to accentuate architecture-based approaches to digital transformation in order to form a single, open, digital market,” said Steve Nunn, President and CEO of The Open Group.
This strategic partnership is a milestone in the ongoing commitment of both organizations to propel the digital transformation journey of the African continent. The collaboration will leverage their collective expertise, resources, and networks to create a significant and lasting impact on the region.
About Smart Africa
Smart Africa is an alliance of 39 African countries, international organisations and global private sector players tasked with Africa’s digital agenda. The alliance is empowered by a bold and innovative commitment by African Heads of State to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent and usher Africa into the knowledge economy through affordable access to broadband and the use of ICTs. With a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030, the Smart Africa Alliance brings together Heads of State who seek to accelerate the digitalization of the continent and create a common market. Launched in 2013 by seven (7) African Heads of State, the Alliance now has 39 member countries, representing over 1 billion people and over 50 Private Sector members committed to the vision and the advancement of Africa. (Partners of the Smart Africa Alliance include the African Union, the ITU, World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa, the GSMA, ICANN and Companies.)
About The Open Group
The Open Group is a global consortium that enables the achievement of business objectives through technology standards. Our diverse membership of more than 900 organizations includes customers, systems and solutions suppliers, tool vendors, integrators, academics, and consultants across multiple industries. Further information on The Open Group can be found at www.opengroup.org.