Digital Leaders Spotlight: Kenya

Kenya has set itself an ambitious digital transformation agenda. According to the Digital Master Plan (2022-2032), the country seeks to enhance government service delivery to citizens by digitalization of 80% of government services. However, there’s a lack of a coordinated approach, characterized by the siloed implementation of automation in the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. 

GovStack Approach   

GovStack in Kenya is implemented, foremost, through the Multi-Donor Action “Initiative for Digital Government and Cybersecurity” (IDGC) in the Horn of Africa. The IDGC is a Team Europe Approach together with Germany, France, and Spain co-financed by the European Union and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The key activities include: 

• Digital Government Strategy and Roadmap: Evaluation of the strategic, technical, and regulatory prerequisites to introduce government e-services, through the implementation of a digital government roadmap for the introduction of government e-services. 

• Service Design of e-government Use Case: Use case selection and design of priority digital public services based on the GovStack Approach to the digitization of government services. 

• Capacity Development: Capacity development measures on digital government and change management for civil servants for the digitization of government services; regional and global communities of practice for peer-to-peer learning. 

This is done together with core GovStack Partners. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) supports the technical service design of priority use cases. The Estonian Centre for International Development (EstDev) supports the development of Digital Readiness Studies and Digital Government Roadmaps. 

Use Case Development 

In Kenya two use cases were jointly selected for prototyping, using the ICT building blocks. GovStack is supporting the implementation of a conversational AI Chatbot and the development of an Unmanned Traffic Management System (UTM):  

• AI Chatbot: The conversational AI chatbot is to be integrated into the existing eGovernment platform eCitizen. The aim of this use case is to make the services already offered on the platform more accessible by making it easy to navigate the platform and to shorten the procedures required to apply for services. 

• Unmanned Traffic Management System (UTM): The aim of this use case is to support the safe and efficient management of operating drones (i.e., unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)) in low-altitude airspace, without requiring significant human intervention in real-time.  

Where we stand  

The service design process for the two use cases has just started. For the implementation of the AI Chatbot GovStack is closely collaborating with the Kenyan Film Commission as a pilot institution. For the UTM use case the project is working closely with the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy (MICDE) to support the Konza Drone Operations Corridor in Kenya. To kick-off the implementation the UTM use case GovStack conducted a study visit to Malawi in Q3 2024 to gain firsthand insights into Malawi’s successful implementation of a drone corridor and UTM system.  

In addition, GovStack conducted a Hackathon in August 2024 which brought together key digital ecosystem players to continue the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) conversation and to foster innovation.  

Next Steps 

• GovStack will continue the design of the AI Chatbot, including, for example, conducting an ideation workshop and training on user testing with relevant agencies to help design the chatbot.  

• Through these practical use cases, GovStack seeks to catalyze growth within the digital ecosystem in Kenya by engaging key stakeholders in recent developments and providing a platform for collaboration through the GovStack Roadshow and Hackathon.