Kenya, recognized as a digital leader in Eastern Africa and dubbed the "Silicon Savannah," is increasingly focused on improving public services and government enterprise architecture. In line with the Kwanza Manifesto's goal to make 80% of government services online, Kenya has rapidly automated its public services. Around 19,000 services are now accessible on the eCitizen platform. Additionally, after updating several government ICT standards in 2023, the Kenyan government aims to renew its Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA) and develop an Interoperability Framework for the country.
In this context, the Estonian Centre for International Development Cooperation (ESTDEV) has commissioned Digital Nation to recommend policies for developing citizen-centric digital services and strengthening GEA in Kenya.
Digital Nation's approach involved research, interviews with stakeholders, and a co-creation workshop with key players in Kenya’s digital governance ecosystem. Departing from the traditional policy analysis, the focus is on practical, actionable recommendations based on Digital Nation’s extensive experience.
As a result, a suite of recommendations was provided, each including rationale, gap analysis, implementation steps, and initial cost assessment. These recommendations span ten areas, covering the governance model, tools, and frameworks for digital public services, GEA, cybersecurity, and core components like eCitizen, the data exchange layer, and digital identity. In addition, prerequisites for the successful implementation of the recommendations were highlighted together with some quick wins to boost motivation.
The recommendations aim to lead to practical pilots to redesign certain public services and test a data exchange platform. Implementing this actionable advice will give Kenya robust and future-proof foundations for digital government, enabling top-class digital services for its citizens and businesses.
We extend our gratitude to the Kenyan government agencies, particularly the Ministry of ICT, the Ministry of Interior, and the ICT Authority.