The Bank of Namibia every year, since 1998, hosts a one-day Symposium. The aim of this Symposium is to bring together experts in the field of economics (internationally and locally) to exchange views on various issues pertaining to the Namibian economy. The theme for this year’s Annual Symposium is:
Theme:
Namibia beyond COVID-19: Digital Transformation for sustainable economic development
Significant advancements in communications technology and wide availability of internet resulted in what is dubbed as the Digital age, marked by large volumes of a variety of data created at ever increasing speeds. This is creating digital imperatives for transformation, impacting an organisation’s supply and demand, and operations. In this new age of technology revolution, Digital Transformation is the new way of doing business by leveraging Digital technologies such as Cloud, Big Data, Mobile computing, Social computing, and Analytics resulting in significant improvements in Operational Efficiencies and Customer Experiences. Digital transformation carries new tools and opportunities to tackle development challenges. It has brought about disruptions that trigger innovations in businesses and consumptions patterns, transforming production systems and value chains. Furthermore, it results in the reorganisation of economic sectors, generating smart goods and services and introducing new conditions of competitiveness. Equally, digital tools can also support access to better services, including education and health. Namibia, therefore, needs to ensure that it takes advantage of the digital transformation and is not left behind.
It is envisaged that the following papers will be presented at the symposium:
Paper 1: Overview of Digital transformation in Namibia to support economic growth:
Digital transformation is changing how and by whom financial services are provided, how payments are made within an economy and across borders, and how and where goods and services are produced in a globalized economy. These transformations bring significant benefits in the form of greater variety and convenience of financial services, faster speed of payment transactions, and more efficient production processes. Traditional commercial banking models are challenged by unregulated FinTech and BigTech firms, possibly threatening systemic financial stability.
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- What is the current regulatory environment and how does it take advantage of digital transformation in the finance space – regulators need to move with new times
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- How can we increase its contribution towards inclusive sustainable development?
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- What is the innovative finance needed for Namibia’s private sector development?
Paper 2: Improving Government service delivery through E-service:
E-government has become a popular focus of government efforts in many countries around the world. More and more governments around the world have implemented and introduced e-government systems as a means of reducing costs, improving services, saving time, and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector. Governments have different strategies to build e-government. Some have created comprehensive long-term plans. Others have opted to identify just a few key areas as the focus of early projects.
The efficient delivery of services is crucial for the functioning of economies and the broader prosperity of societies. Governments typically play a key role in the provision of critical services such as education, health and security. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of the digital age, especially the importance of e-learning and the curriculum should therefore be adjusted so that schools start at an early age with e-learning and progress over time.
Paper 3: Digital Transformation for sustainable economic development: Other countries experiences and Policy Options for Namibia:
This paper will evaluate the different strategies of building a digital economy, looking at the advantages and challenges from experiences from other countries and see which one maybe suitable for the Namibian economy.