Connecting the city of Kinshasa to new technologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This is the project currently being carried out by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of its "Smart City" initiative, which combines the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) for the well-being of the population.
Between science and data analysis, the digital professions will be at the forefront in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where a forum organized under the theme “artificial intelligence (AI), myth or reality” has just ended. According to the authorities of this Central African country, the capital Kinshasa populated by 17 million souls (just behind Lagos in Nigeria, editor’s note) will soon be a smart city thanks to the implementation of the “Smart City” project launched in 2019.
“The state plans to digitize all sectors of activity, whether in health, finance or education. It is important that there is a regulation on the information that circulates in the various structures, “said Olga Kavira, the adviser of the Congolese Minister of Digital.
Sustainable development in focus
As part of this project modeled on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the DRC authorities with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), organized in April 2021 a symposium called “Congo Bulmaya” at the Innovation Center of Lubumbashi (Cinolu). The event, which brought together civil society actors, municipalities from the 26 provinces of the DRC as well as IT and finance professionals from Central Africa, closed with the announcement of the creation of 1,000 green jobs through a dozen start-ups by 2024.
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At the same time, the “City of Light” project is being developed in the DRC. The initiative, led by the organization State of the African Diaspora (SOAD) and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Community Action for Socio-Economic Development (ACDS), aims at the digital transformation of the locality of Muanda located in the province of Kongo-Central. Although the project’s objective is to change the living conditions of at least 100,000 inhabitants, no specific information is yet available about its implementation.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
