Dynamic Coalition on Digital Capacity Building launched

On 15 March 2023, UNESCO launched a Dynamic Coalition for Digital Capacity Building at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2023. It aims to support countries in their digital transformation through exchanges within a network of digital leaders worldwide.

The Dynamic Coalition facilitates the sharing of good practices on digital transformation with concrete use cases. This has the benefit of supporting governments to learn from one another’s digital transformation experiences and to create opportunities for collaboration. In addition, the Dynamic Coalition provides a network to support the implementation of UNESCO’s under-development methodology for assessment of digital capacities in governments and to support the organisation of subsequent trainings.

At the launch event, digital transformation leaders from Estonia, India, Kenya, and Slovenia shared their insights on digital governance and capacity building.

The panellists highlighted that leaders of digital transformation can develop the necessary competencies for digital transformation and AI adoption. These competencies include technical skills, such as the ability to use data to generate insights, understand the development of digital platforms, and create enabling legal, regulatory, and ethical frameworks. Additionally, they should foster cross-cutting attitudes, such as creativity, that support the development of technical competencies. By investing in promoting digital culture and a digital mindset within themselves and their governments, these agents of change will be equipped with the skills needed to take advantage of digital transformation opportunities.

The panellists also stressed the importance of actively seeking diverse perspectives and collaborations to enrich the policy development and execution process through a multistakeholder approach. In addition to engaging with stakeholder groups within their own countries, governments should also consider collaborating with other governments and organizations abroad.

The Dynamic Coalition can facilitate these transnational exchanges and support the creation of joint initiatives that pool resources and capacities across borders. This can help mitigate cost and capacity issues, and create more opportunities for sustainable digital transformation.