At a recent retreat of cabinet and permanent secretaries, government pinpointed artificial intelligence (AI) as a very critical component in Uganda’s digital transformation roadmap.
The retreat resolved that government comes up with a robust AI policy and implementation strategy. This was publicly disclosed by Dr Aminah Zawedde at the AI in Health Africa Conference held at Imperial Royale hotel recently. Zawedde, who is the permanent secretary of the ministry of ICT and National Guidance, opened the conference as the chief guest.
She outlined the digital transformation road- map’s priorities as infrastructure development, affordable and accessible technology, skilling the human resource necessary to bring about mass adoption of ICTs, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and innovation.
She added that AI is no longer a new or faraway reality in Uganda.
“In Uganda, we already have AI in agriculture, education, health, etc. It’s no longer limited to academia; society is already aware of it and asking many questions,” she said.
“My ministry has encouraged the ministry of Education and Sports to ensure that all graduates of teacher training colleges and universities are digitally literate. Augmented reality, cloud computing and AI are examples of emerging technologies that we are encouraging people to learn and utilise.”
This was the first of an annual conference that aims at enhancing the building of a strong AI ecosystem connecting policymakers, researchers and practitioners.
The conference highlighted the ongoing advancements at the Artificial Intelligence Health Lab launched in May 2024 and based at Makerere University. It also addressed issues of how AI can be leveraged to enhance healthcare delivery systems, inform policy, and drive innovation across Africa.
The lab is promoting multidisciplinary research in health intelligence. It partners several reputable global organisations besides the Uganda Cancer Institute and a number of major hospitals such as Mulago and Kiruddu.
With the theme,“Building a strong ecosystem for AI in African health systems,” and attended by academia, healthcare, industry and government practitioners, the conference discussed how to innovate AI-driven solutions in diagnostics, treatment optimization, disease mapping and disease prediction.
It stressed the importance of utilizing AI to handle various healthcare needs, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, and developing sustainable strategies for AI policy, regulation and ethical implementation.
The conference also tackled ethical concerns such as data privacy, bias, and accountability in AI applications, while emphasizing the importance of equitable access to these technologies.
Participants agreed that building a strong AI ecosystem requires addressing talent gaps, developing regulatory frameworks, and creating partnerships that integrate AI into healthcare systems sustainably.
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