{"id":1690,"date":"2023-09-08T16:15:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T16:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/dr-global\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cyber"},"modified":"2023-09-08T16:15:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T16:15:12","slug":"kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/08\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya Initiates Public Sector Digital Skills Training, No Mention of Cybersecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"><\/p>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-1.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Kenya plans to open a center of excellence to better train public sector staff in digital skills, but so far, cybersecurity training seems to be left out of the stated&nbsp;agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Backed by Microsoft and the United Nations Development Program, the center will train the country&#8217;s civil servants with the digital skills required to improve digitization in the country, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wearetech.africa\/en\/fils-uk\/news\/public-management\/kenya-und-microsoft-to-develop-digital-skilling-center-of-excellence-for-public-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">We Are Tech Africa<\/a> reported. This includes broadband connectivity, cloud infrastructure, the adoption of smart technologies, government paperless office strategies, and online platforms for common services.<\/p>\n<p>The center aligns with one of the objectives of <a href=\"https:\/\/cms.icta.go.ke\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-04\/Kenya%20Digital%20Masterplan%202022-2032%20Online%20Version.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenya\u2019s Digital Master Plan<\/a> 2022\u20132032, to &#8220;utilize ICT [information and communications technology] to enhance government service delivery to the citizen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"regular-text\">What About the Cybersecurity Factor?<\/h2>\n<p>What&#8217;s glaringly missing is&nbsp;any mention of&nbsp;cybersecurity or data protection within the training being offered. The Kenyan Ministry of ICT did not return a request for comment by Dark Reading regarding whether cybersecurity will be a part of the agenda, but researchers say that it will be crucial for ramping up digital success in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Confidence Staveley \u2014 founder of Cybersafe Foundation, a nongovernmental organization facilitating change for safer Internet use in Africa \u2014 says that&nbsp;this digital training could&nbsp;be a foundation to build cybersecurity talent down the road.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think this particular partnership will most likely have a fundamental element of cybersecurity, which will come in the form of safe and responsible use of digital,&#8221; she says. &#8220;In parts of Africa, there is a very low digital literacy rate, especially among public workers, because they&#8217;ve been used to doing their work without computing systems or they were not digital, as there are still a lot of governments pushing paper.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She adds:&nbsp;&#8220;So while there&#8217;s the move to digitize government systems, there should also be a common move to upskill public workers, which I think this initiative is doing and is very commendable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The announcement is part of a wider trend; it follows the opening of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afdb.org\/en\/news-and-events\/press-releases\/kenya-african-development-banks-coding-employment-program-opens-second-center-excellence-boost-youth-digital-skills-58988\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICT center of excellence at the United States International University-Africa in Kenya<\/a> in February.&nbsp;Also, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.undp.org\/nigeria\/press-releases\/microsoft-and-united-nations-development-programme-sign-mou-institutionalize-partnership#:~:text=LAGOS%20%E2%80%93%20On%2031%20October%2C%202022,Sustainable%20Development%20Goals%20in%20Nigeria.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United Nations Development Programme and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding<\/a> to explore partnerships and define pathways in Nigeria in October 2022.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/dr-global\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cyber\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenya plans to open a center of excellence to better<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809],"class_list":["post-1690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dark-reading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1928&ssl=1",2560,1928,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C226&ssl=1",300,226,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C482&ssl=1",640,482,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C482&ssl=1",640,482,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C1157&ssl=1",1536,1157,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1542&ssl=1",2048,1542,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C771&ssl=1",1024,771,true],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C575&ssl=1",825,575,true],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cybersecurity-scaled.jpg?resize=590%2C410&ssl=1",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Dark 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