Data Economy Advisor in the Digital Transformation Centre South Africa

BACKGROUND:

As an international organization commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH provides international cooperation service for sustainable development in a wide variety of areas, including energy, environment, digitalization, employment, and economic development. We work with partners all over the world across different sectors towards building a future worth living for every individual.

The Digital Transformation Centre (DTC) is part of a global initiative of GIZ, it is a virtual or physical hub that enables local innovation worldwide and promotes digital solutions for sustainable development. The DTC combines innovation, technical know-how, inclusive and collaborative participation, digital knowledge as well as research and entrepreneurial drive. The major goal of establishing DTCs in partner countries is to systematically strengthen the ecosystem and local capacities for digital transformation. There are 9 modules that a DTC can encompass which include Digital Government, Disruptive Technologies, Innovation Promotion, Cyber Security, Digital Skills, Green Digital Transformation, Digital Economy, Digital Health, and Women in Tech.

The establishment of a DTC in South Africa would focus on the module “Green Digital Transformation”, which will include leveraging the use of digital technologies for South Africa’s Just Energy / Climate Transition. In addition, the DTC would support other modules such as Digital Skills, Digital Economy, Women in Technology, and Innovation Promotion through the existing GIZ projects and initiatives in South Africa. Thereby, the activities of the DTC would evolve around policy advice, the conceptualization of digital technology driven use cases (particularly Blockchain and Data – why are we only mentioning these?  What about other use cases that can be enabled by other 4IR technologies such as AI, Drones, Virtual Reality, etc?), capacity development for relevant stakeholders.

Data Economy Project

The Data Economy Project is part of the Global Digital Transformation Programme, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with the overall aim of improving the conditions for a value-generating data economy together with the digital ecosystem at all levels – macro, meso and micro level. In South Africa, the project will be embedded with the DTC, and its activities will be centered around the following three major components:

Data value-creation focuses on improving the conceptual foundation for scaling data-driven use cases that are geared towards local data value creation. It involves the identification of feasible and economically viable data-driven use cases together with interested actors in the digital ecosystem and building on experiences of relevant actors and initiatives. It also entails supporting the development of secure and interoperable data infrastructure with the digital ecosystem based on selected principles of data sovereignty.

Data capacities entail strengthening the competences of the national digital ecosystem actors for value-adding data economy. This includes conducting a needs assessment to better understand the knowledge or skills gaps that might impede the potentials of the data economy and conducting capacity building measures on this basis. It covers a broad range of data-related aspects including data protection and regulation, data sovereignty, data value chains, trust mechanisms for data exchange and climate friendly application of data-based approaches.

Data Policies component involves empowering Pan African decision makers in the digital ecosystem to shape a value-added data economy by supporting with establishing an enabling regulatory environment in which the data economy can thrive. This includes the provision of technical support in designing national data strategy, data governance frameworks, guidelines, policies, or standards.

Support the regulatory framework for the use of digital innovations to ensure sustainable use of data-driven innovations enabling the digital ecosystem to develop, critically review, and leverage innovative digital solutions for a Just Transition. This includes the strengthening of digital and data capabilities based on the needs of various stakeholders, including policymakers and civil society, with a focus on developing workshops and trainings to increase expertise on data-driven value creation and use cases.

Data use cases: Support local development of data-driven use cases focused on supporting climate action (e.g., smart energy, green hydrogen supply chain tracking). This involves the identification of locally feasible and economically viable use cases including relevant stakeholders of the digital ecosystem (e.g., civil society, entrepreneurs, policy makers).