With digital transformation accelerating worldwide, the competition among solution providers is getting tougher. To enable their investors to leverage opportunities brought up by this transformation, some governments have started taking strong measures.

This year, Russia will deploy digital attachés in 16 countries. This was disclosed last Monday, Feb 7, by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko (pictured). South Africa - the largest digital market in Africa and a privileged partner of Russia on the continent through the BRICS (economic grouping formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) - is one of the countries to welcome one of these attachés.

The deployment of digital attachés in some Russian embassies is the result of a collaborative agreement between the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Media, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Russian Fund for the Development of Information Technology (RFRIT), and is part of the government's efforts to support the domestic IT industry.

Recruited attachés will “promote domestic software products abroad, provide consulting, information and analytical, legal and organizational support to Russian IT companies. Their main task is to develop the export of Russian digital solutions," said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. By 2024, the number of countries where Russian digital attachés will be stationed should grow to 28. 

Russia’s digital attaché will be joining the US digital attaché in South Africa. The American representative came into the country in December 2016, to promote US tech companies and help SA navigate through foreign digital and trade policies. The US, let’s recall, launched its digital attaché program in 2014.

In Russia, it is the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Media that handles the ongoing recruitment of digital attachés.

Muriel Edjo

National health systems must adapt to technological developments. This is something every country around the world realized with the COVID-19 pandemic. Sierra Leone, which has been making efforts in this regard since 2019, now explores international partnerships to quickly bridge the mismatch between its health system and technological developments. 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is offering Sierra Leone its digital health expertise. The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention revealed this on Monday 7 February after the two countries' respective health ministers, Mohammad Salim Al Olama (UAE) and Austin Demby (Sierra Leone) discussed the matter while recently meeting in Dubai. 

During the meeting, Mohammad Salim Al Olama briefed the Sierra Leonean minister and his delegation on the UAE's achievements in digital health services and health innovation, in line with efforts to fight diseases, improve health education, promote healthy nutrition, etc. The official also spoke about the UAE government's progress in health data management and health information systems development. 

Sierra Leone has one of the worst health systems in the world, according to the 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index. Produced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the John Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, working with Economist Impact, the GHS Index assesses 195 countries across six categories, 37 indicators, and 171 questions. Using publicly available data, the index compares health security in featured countries, based on their capabilities to prevent diseases, the number of doctors, the number and quality of health facilities, etc. In last year's rankings, Sierra Leone was 116th with a score of 32.7 out of 100. 

Leveraging digital technologies to improve its public health system, Sierra Leone will have to invest heavily in its internet infrastructure. The country's internet penetration rate currently stands at 25% only, according to the Hootsuit and We Are Social Digital Report. 

In 2019, Sierra Leone became the first African member state of the World Health Organization (WHO) African region to fully digitize its disease monitoring system. The project was started with the WHO's support and was successfully deployed in all 14 districts of the country as well as in all its public health facilities. 

Muriel Edjo