Navigating the future: Insights from Kenya's envisioning event on digital policy
The Community of Practice on Digital Skills and Jobs in Kenya convened to evaluate its strategic direction and chart the course for joint advocacy and a coordinated approach to driving an inclusive and productive digital transformation.
Nairobi KENYA (ILO News) – The Community of Practice on Digital Skills and Jobs in Kenya (CoP), facilitated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), held a self-assessment and visioning event to reflect on the strides made in mapping key digital trends and to deliberate on its future direction.
Since the CoP was established in June 2023, a series of discussions have been held on key thematic areas that need to be integrated in the design of effective policies and an efficient governance system for the promotion of a productive and inclusive digital transformation in the country. These policy dimensions include investment in connectivity infrastructure and skills development, digital governance, data security and cyber safety, standards on industrial relations, and digital services supporting e-commerce, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Shaping an agenda for the future
During the visioning event, consensus emerged on the need to harness the CoP’s momentum to forge solutions that bridge the digital divide and promote job creation and economic growth. "As we progress, our focus should shift towards transforming our accumulated knowledge into practical, actionable products," stressed Caroline Njuki, Chief Technical Advisor for the ILO in Kenya. “Continuing piecemeal will not yield meaningful progress," she concluded.The CoP members also supported a future direction that promotes coordination and moves away from siloed approaches to leverage the benefits and address the challenges of the ongoing digital transformation. This necessarily involves a concerted effort to work with government agencies to shape impactful policies. Critical issues were also identified concerning the regulation of digital employment, including the definition and addition of “digital worker“ as a new category in Kenya’s Employment Act and for modernizing the Labour Relations Act.
The CoP also emphasized the need for targeted policies and support for specific demographics affected by the digital divide such as young people and women in rural and remote areas, and populations affected by forced displacement. The discussion also underscored the unique hurdles that small businesses encounter in the digital transition, such as bearing the cost of devices and broadband access.
A roadmap for the CoP
The CoP members agreed to finalize the mapping of gaps in policy and regulation for the promotion of decent work and inclusion in the digital economy. A critical next step is to determine the CoP's future structure. A few options were discussed, including its evolution into an institutional government- or industry-led mechanism, or its continuation as a flexible network.With strategic actions already in motion, the CoP is ready to catalyze the change carefuly outlined during the visioning event, ensuring that each step taken is a stride towards the impactful transformation members envisage for the digital landscape in Kenya.
The PROSPECTS programme in Kenya and the Opportunity Fund project on the Promotion, inclusion and protection of refugees and host communities in the gig economy, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are supporting the CoP for driving the expansion of a digital economy that ensures growth while generating equity in access to skills and decent work opportunities for all.