Stories on digital transformation

Information is a powerful tool in democratic opinion forming. The African Union Media Fellowship enhances the capacity of African journalists to tell stories for and about their continent.

Why GIZ is championing free online systems. By Björn Richter, Digital Transformation Cluster Coordinator

Digitalisation is an important driver of development, but only if everyone benefits from it equally. akzente has gathered interesting facts and figures to show how much needs to be done to bridge the digital divide.

Edgar Ssensalo, 27, is from Uganda and works as a Software Engineer. For him, artificial intelligence is the most important accomplishment there is – because machines that are able to learn can predict and shape the future, with sophisticated software and intelligent modelling.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine – food security is under pressure worldwide. GIZ expert Diana Diekjürgen explains the role that digitalisation could play for food security in the future.

Franziska Schmülling describes her work as social media specialist in GIZ’s Corporate Communications Unit.

In the fertile valley of the Senegal River farmers grow rice on vast swathes of land. The foodstuff is part of every meal in the West African country of Senegal. While farmers use traditional methods and tools, they also rely on digital tools to compete in the market.

akzente is transitioning to become a purely online publication - it’s the logical step given that most of our readers already get their information largely online. Over the last few decades we have evolved continuously, ensuring that we were always in tune with changing times. GIZ Press Spokesperson Ute Schaeffer and Jörg Schindler, who was responsible for the magazine in the late 1990s, talk here about akzente as it was and is.

Vaccines need to be kept cold for them to be effective. A pilot project in Malawi is demonstrating how that can work using digital tools and solar power even in remote african villages.

Born out of the coronavirus crisis, the Team Europe concept now serves as a blueprint for EU-wide development cooperation.