Alan Boshwaen, founding CEO of the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) is to vacate his position after ten years at the helm of the organisation.

Boshawean has served as CEO for two terms of five years each and is accredited by the organisation for contribution towards the development of start-ups and enticing blue-chip companies into the Southern African country.

Alan Boshwaen, founding CEO of the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH).

The organisation’s brand and communications manager Kemiso Ben said: “Today, BIH is recognised as a leader in advancing and enhancing innovation drivers including promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related programmes and activities.”

Government recently announced its intention to transform BIH into a Digital and Innovation Hub (DIH), as part of the transformation of the public sector.

According to Ben, Boshwaen has done much of the groundwork required to facilitate this process and position the Hub to drive the national digital transformation agenda.

The Minister of Tertiary Education Douglas Letsholathebe said DIH will support public agencies to design services and public policies that are citizen-centric.

“DIH will facilitate inter-departmental and government-to-citizen co- creation and collaboration through fostering experimentation and innovation to building a responsive public service,” said Letsholathebe.

The Minister added that DIH will develop an Open Data Portal that will aggregate datasets from all government ministries and departments. The datasets will be made available for the development of applications and digital services that are expected to add value to citizens.

“The digital transformation of the public sector presents new opportunities for developing and creating digital solutions such as ‘Government in a Box’ based on Botswana’s excellent Governance track record that can be commercialised through home-grown start-ups and exported to Africa and beyond.”

The BIH is working towards the completion of the country’s first Science and Technology Park (STP) in August.

Ben said several local and multinational companies have already set up operations within STP, including Orange, Okavango Diamond Company and Bofinet Data Centre, while Microsoft plans to establish a Microsoft Innovation Centre and eventually a laboratory to support local software development.