DAR ES SALAAM: THE government in collaboration with the African Blockchain Association (UABA), has embarked on knowledge transfer and experience sharing to develop awareness between public and private institutions on the use and application of the new blockchain technology in the country.
The experience sharing is between the Electronic Government Authority (eGA) experts, bank institutions, academic institutions, young innovators and key government stakeholders and external technocrats’ experts.
Speaking during the commencement of the two-day workshop that will conclude today, the e-GA Director General, Eng Benedict Ndomba said that the seminar is a step towards ensuring Tanzania does not lag behind in latest technologies like blockchain.
He said the aim of the workshop is to come up with a common understanding, resolutions and a strategy to introduce blockchain and digital currency in the country.
“This technology is used by many people around the world, so we as a country have realised that we cannot lag behind as a government. We must gain an understanding of this technology before we start applying it,” said Mr Ndomba.
Furthermore, the e-GA boss said officials from various sectors have been invited to share experience and skills in accordance to the nature of their jobs.
“Our aim here is to bring people together, so those from financial institutions, telecommunication companies or government institutions can share experience on how we can utilise the technology in providing better and advanced services,” he noted.
He said that once this technology is fully developed, it will help to ease the delivery of services to citizens.
On his part, the Zanzibar Director General of e-GA, Mr Said Seif Said noted that the government is making great efforts in the field of Information and Communication Technology to ensure that there is a digital transformation and a digital economy for Tanzania as a whole.
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On his part, the e-GA Information Services Supervisor, Mr Ricco Boma said through the workshop, participants will gain knowledge and experience on how the new technologies work for the betterment of the people and the nation at large.
“In this workshop, we will gain more knowledge on how blockchains are created and how they work, we will also gain experience on how these digital currencies are created, how they work and their uses,” said Mr Boma.
Furthermore, Mr Boma said that the government, through e-GA, is enabling public institutions to be able to serve citizens.
He added that his office has established a research centre at the University of Dodoma for conducting researches on digital currencies in collaboration with the Bank of Tanzania.
On her part, the AUBA Chairperson, Ms Yaliwe Mlambo commended the government of Tanzania for its forwardthinking approach in ensuring that the necessary technological skills are adopted in order to keep up with the pace of the changing world.
Ms Mlambo said that with this initiative, Tanzania is moving forward in digital technology, and there is a brighter future as technology is going to bring the government and private sector together in serving the people.
Blockchain technology is an advanced database mechanism that allows transparent information sharing within a business network.
