ICT experts from the government and the private sector have met in Dar es Salaam to discuss the best ways of developing IT systems that easily read each other and thus facilitate the implementation of the integrated digital economy policy.

Addressing a workshop to discuss the importance of digital systems in the provision of various social services to achieve an integrated digital economy yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Dr Kundwe Mwasaga Director General of the ICT Commission said that the efforts being made to achieve a digital economy are aimed at to achieving the goal of coordinating and promoting ICT. 

"We are discussing how to create an enabling environment for ICT inovators to design digital solutions that enable many systems to work well with each other. We are discussing how to develop the established systems," said Dr Mwasaga.

Mohamed Mashaka, Director of Information Systems Development and Services at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology said for a start, they have chosen to start with the health sector where innovations are needed to simplify the delivery of services.

He made the remarks at a two-day workshop focused on insights into Tanzanian digital services covering various sectors including health. 

"We need enough innovations for a digital health wallet that can facilitate the maintenance of the patient's personal records and the trend and history of his treatment," he said.

Mashaka said these efforts are part of the digital economy strategy that was discovered last year, which aims to make all sectors digital. 

Dr Emmanuel Mkilia, Director General Personal Data Protection Commission said that digital development must consider the protection of personal information during the development of ICT infrastructure.

"We focus more on how ICT innovations are safe in protecting users' personal information. We have chosen to start with the infrastructure for the provision of digital health services and later we will continue with other sectors," said Dr Mkilia.

He asked the digital service providers to join the commission not only to fulfill the legal requirement but to build a trust that will give everyone the freedom and peace to participate in the digital economy.

The workshop was co-organized by GovStack, German Cooperation, Estonian Center for International Development and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.