Kenya hopes to benefit from Italy's expertise in space technology and emerging technologies.

Kenya is joining forces with Italy to boost digital transformation in the East African country.

Kenya hopes to benefit from Italy's expertise in space technology and emerging technologies as part of the partnership to improve public service delivery.

Dr Margaret Ndung'u, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, welcomed a group of Italian officials and executives led by Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, to Nairobi.

According to officials, the meeting covered how the two countries may engage in developing space technology to improve public service delivery, as well as innovative methods for rolling out fibre-optic cables across the country, promoting information exchange, and manufacturing chips and digital devices.

“There is also the area of artificial intelligence (AI), which we are ready to move forward, considering we want to link AI to socio-economic development,” Ndung’u said after the meeting.

The partnership is set to boost Kenya’s ambitious Digital Superhighway project.

Under the scheme, the government aims to lay 100 000 kilometres of fibre and establish digital hubs in all 1 450 wards in the country.

In a related development, on Monday, Stanley Kamanguya, CEO of Kenya ICT Authority hosted Slovak Ambassador, Katarína Žuffa Leligdonová, in Nairobi.

The pair discussed potential areas of collaborations in digital infrastructure, digital skills, cyber security and knowledge sharing.