Programme Director, Mr Peter Ndoro;
Honourable, Mr. Solly Malatsi, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies;
Honourable Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Thamsanga Ntuli;
Mayor of eThekwini, Honourable, Mr Cyril Xaba;
Director-General of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ms. Nonkqubela Thathakahle Jordan-Dyani;
SITA Board Members;
Mr. Gopal Reddy, Managing Director of the State Information Technology Agency;
Honourable Members of Parliament;
Senior Government officials;
Heads of Public research institutions;
Heads of Academic institutions;
Leaders of Business and the Private Sector;
Innovators and tech-entrepreneurs;
Esteemed participants.

Let me start my expressing my gratitude to Minister Malatsi for the invitation to come and address this important conference. Allow me to also congratulate the State Information Technology Agency for reaching the milestone of the 16th edition of this conference.

I must also say that your chosen theme for this year’s conference, which is “One Data, One Citizen, One Citizen Service Journey – Digital Transformation.”, resonates with our Department’s recently adopted mantra, which is “Placing Science, Technology and Innovation at the centre of Government, Education, Industry and Society’.

Inspired by theme of this conference, I wish to briefly speak on three issues which I believe are worth considering at a gathering of this stature.

How technological advances have transformed our world

The first is the far-reaching impact of technology on our daily lives. Over the last 50 years or so, we have seen the emergence of a number of technologies that have transformed our world in ways even exceeding our most optimistic expectations.

Some of these technological advances include the internet and World Wide Web, mobile phones and in particular smartphones, 5G technology, the rise of e-readers and digital content, electric vehicles and of course artificial intelligence.

These technological advances have literally revolutionised every aspect of our lives and have transformed the way in which both public and private institutions function. Take the example of AI. In transportation, we have seen the emergence of self-driving cars. In healthcare, AI is being used in medical imaging analysis, drug discovery, and personalised treatment plans.

In education, AI is being used to create personalised learning experiences, provide targeted exercises, and summarise complex information. In finance, AI algorithms are now being used to identify and prevent fraudulent activities, protecting businesses and customers.

At the same time, whilst new technologies such as AI are offering new opportunities to solve long-standing challenges of global humanity, like with all previous technological innovations, there are also downsides.

Al and related technologies have presented us with new concerns about how these new tools are being appropriated, tested and used as extensions of power of regimes based on human rights abuses, domination and exploitation.

An example of this is the destructive use of AI in social profiling and surveillance strategies in support of the genocide currently unfolding in Gaza. The malevolent use of these technologies in the geopolitics arena also poses serious risks to the sovereignty, security and cultural autonomy of developing countries of the global South.

This reminds us that, technologies by themselves are not inherently neutral or democratic and that they must be understood as extensions of the social and political context within which they are conceived.

The challenges of digital transformation

The second issue I wish to reflect on are the challenges of digital transformation. Many countries in the developing world are struggling to address their national priorities due to problems such as the slow, uneven and discordant adoption of new technologies, which often leads to disjointed or weakened capacity for data collection, storage, processing and applications.

This of course directly compromises our ability to predict and respond to real world challenges such as spatial planning, urbanisation, population movements, climate change related disasters or health pandemics as we saw in 2020/21 with the Covid-19 crisis.

All this makes the development of protocols that can facilitate the seamless flow of critical data within and between countries, extremely urgent. This is particularly critical for countries in the developing world and for the resolution of trans-national challenges.

It is for this reason that our national policies and strategies must also seek to support continental initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area’s Digital Trade Protocol, which aims to boost intra-African trade, including in digital goods and services.

Then there is also the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020–2030), which envisions an Africa where digital technologies empower societies, foster economic integration, and promote inclusive development.

The DSTI’s contributing to building of foundational digital capabilities

The third and final issue I wish to reflect on is the need for our country to develop the necessary scientific knowledge for the development of innovative technologies that can drive digital transformation and economic inclusion.

As the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, we are responsible for the implementation of our country’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (for the period 2022 to 2032).

Through this Plan, we seek to intensify South Africa’s economic transformation by driving the modernisation of key sectors of our economy. One of the pillars of our country’s Decadal Plan is the building of foundational capabilities for the digital economy. Under this pillar, we have 5 domains, which are:

1.AI, Cybernetics and Robotics;
2. Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality;
3.Internet of Things, Networking and Cloud to Edge Computing;
4. Cyber Security and Blockchain; and
5 Modelling and Simulation.

This work is done through our Foundation Digital Capabilities Research platform or the FDCR in short. This platform is housed at our entity, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). We regard these five domains as critical enablers for application development and customisation in key sectors of the economy.

Additionally, as part of implementing South Africa's ICT Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap, in partnership with some of our public universities, our Department is coordinating various AI-focused initiatives.

This work is coordinated by the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR). This a national joint research centre that started in 2011 between the University of KwaZulu-Natal and our entity, the CSIR.

This Centre conducts foundational, directed and applied research into various aspects of Artificial Intelligence such as Adaptive and Cognitive Systems, AI and Cybersecurity, AI for Development, Applications of Machine Learning and other areas.

Thus far, this Centre has 10 established research groups across 9 public universities and two emerging research groups, which are Swarm Intelligence and Speech Technologies at Sol Plaatje University and the University of Limpopo, respectively.

Through the development of these scientific and technological capabilities, the DSTI plays a crucial support role within national government’s broader Digital Masterplan as led by the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies (DCDT) for the country.

For all these interventions to achieve the desired effect, we need to prioritise greater inter department cooperation and cooperation. Equally important is the need for us to realise that our digital sovereignty is connected to our national sovereignty and we must never allow a situation where our initiatives or partnerships in the digital economy undermine our national sovereignty. We must never compromise on this.

In conclusion

As stated, we are living through an era that is characterised by some of the most breathtaking technological advances and paradoxically, we still see the persistence of inequality in a number forms, including what others have described as digital apartheid.

There is no doubt that access to data is a key enabler for digital transformation and the digital economy, and it is therefore critical for us as government to ensure equitable access to data so as to foster digital and economic inclusion.

Therefore, at the heart our efforts as the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation is the production of scientific knowledge and digital skills that will support the building a capable, ethical and innovative state that is at centre of changing the quality of life of all citizens.

I have no doubt that this conference will enhance all our existing efforts
and look forward to the outcome of your deliberations.
I wish to a productive conference.