The Minister for ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire has said Rwanda is prepared for the first ever Cybertech Africa summit that is slated in March. 2000 delegates from all around the world will convene to discuss and assess several cyber challenges facing the continent in a bid to find relevant solutions. Among the keynote speakers expected include Luis Carvalho, a Cyber Advisor in the Portuguese Ministry of Defence, Lacina Koné, Director-General of Smart Africa, Doug Rapp, President of Cyber Leadership Alliance among others. The event will also see cybertech companies from Africa and around the world exhibiting several tech products. Ingabire explained that preparation activities are ongoing so as to ensure a successful event. “I can say that we are well prepared for this event and several activities are in the pipeline to ensure that the event becomes successful,” she said, adding that: “We are working together with other stakeholders like Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) and Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) in gathering relevant topics that will be solution-oriented as far as cyber tech is concerned.” We are also talking to institutions like Rwanda Convention Bureau, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the private sector so as to ensure hospitality for both local and international delegates, she said. Rwandan officials were part of the close to 2,000 delegates at summit drawn from around 80 countries across the world. The Cybertech Global meet was held n Tel Aviv, Israel that ended on January 30. An essential opportunity Ingabire also noted that the fact that this first ever conference will be hosted by Rwanda is an essential opportunity for the continent at large. “This is a big event that usually takes place in other places but will now be held on the African continent for the first time. This is something that we were missing,”she said. She added that: “This will be an opportunity for Africa to sit down and analyse several challenges and gaps in our cyber ecosystem, with an aim of finding relevant solutions.” In everything we do as a country we want to ensure that we are a Pan-African hub that is creating solutions in Africa and for Africans, she reiterated. Cybertech Global was first held in Israel, Tel Aviv in 2014 but from 2015, it has been held in other continents like America, Europe, Asia and for the first time, it will come to Africa.
