The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has forged a new alliance with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support continuing digital changes in the state.
The government and Foundation jointly created the “digital lab” program to support companies and inspire digital innovators.
According to Governor Obaseki, the digital lab initiative, which is a legacy project of the administration, will continue to support the government’s major accomplishments and digital pathways in addition to advancing the state’s development plan.
We intentionally want to make Edo a destination of choice for digital solutions, he declared. We intend to train at least 10,000 software engineers in Edo over the course of the next five years so they can compete on the world market.
“This digital lab program will serve as a key tenet of our initiatives to advance Edo State’s digital transformation and support all of our efforts to make Edo digital.
As a result, we are leading the implementation of new tools and processes that will help us come closer to our goal of making Edo the best place to work and live in Africa by the year 2050.
The governor continued, “The role of technology in our quest to sustain our development strikes at the heart of our reforms, whether in terms of improving our processes, creating opportunities for collective growth, and opening up the space to engage our people to both work and build robust, strong, and indomitable institutions.”
“Technology is the life wire of the new Edo State, Whether it is from recalibrating how our teachers teach to rejuvenating the facilities that deliver healthcare services, especially at the PHC level or informing the way we think and deliver tasks in the jobs in our civil and public service, or in terms of land management. We are using technology in every one of these applications in ways that weren’t previously thought to be conceivable.”
Among other things, he continued, “these are our drives to move toward a more digital world, as well as in luring investment and exploring collaborations that increase the penetration of digital technology in our daily lives.”
“As we officially launch the digital lab project in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I think it’s vital to emphasize that this is a landmark project that perfectly encapsulates our state’s journey toward digital transformation. We will therefore make every effort to guarantee that we arrive at very useful conclusions.
On his part, Director, Chief of Staff, Global Growth and Opportunity, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Carol Welch said the partnership with Edo “will demonstrate what enhanced digital capability in the public sector can accomplish through building on the digital infrastructure in the state.”
Additionally, the Deputy Director of the BMGF, Tijjani Mohammed, stated that Edo is different from other states in the federation due to the government’s commitment to human capital development, health, and education, among other things, she promised the Foundation would continue to support the state government’s transformation agenda.