International Training

Digital Transformation through ICT (C) for Young Leaders new!
Opening Up the Future Via Digitalization

Sep.23‚ 2024 to Oct.10‚ 2024

Yasunori NAKASHIMA‚ Course leader

Visit Panasonic Center Tokyo


Site Visit 1
The Training Programme for Young Leaders is part of Japan’s technical cooperation for developing countries. It provides basic training for young people in various countries to give them an understanding of Japan's experience and technologies in fields where that is necessary for their respective countries. This is a programme to assist in the development of human resources who will play a leading role in building their country in the future.

The training of human resources who meet society’s needs in the fields of ICT and DX is a key factor in the growth of developing countries‚ and is expected to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. This course welcomes young leaders who will play a key role in the fields of ICT and digital transformation in French-speaking Africa. Its aim is that‚ in addition to learning about policies and actual practices in those fields in Japan‚ they will also draw up specific action plans designed to improve the current situation in their home country and offer solutions to issues‚ and will contribute to raising standards and achieving progress in those fields in their respective countries.


Site Visit 2
There were seven participants in the course from six countries: Gabon‚ Cape Verde‚ Côte d'Ivoire‚ Djibouti‚ Senegal‚ and Burkina Faso. The participants were all involved in work related to digitalization‚ but as a group they ranged from individuals responsible for practical duties to people who provide cabinet ministers with advice on digital technologies.

It was a short course lasting 18 days but had a carefully balanced curriculum that covered such topics as policies and strategies to promote digitalization‚ Internet service provider case studies‚ and practical examples from manufacturing industries and agriculture. The participants enthusiastically asked questions about almost all the subjects on the curriculum‚ and I was impressed by their strong desire to absorb as much information and knowledge as possible. However‚ that did mean a tendency to overrun‚ so time management was difficult... The enthusiasm and hard work of the participants led to viable and ambitious action plans such as‚ for example‚ a plan to develop their country’s BRT that drew upon Japan’s smart bus stops‚ and one that incorporated policies of economy and industry departments and various other bodies‚ and aimed to create a West African innovation hub.


Site Visit 3
The participants were of a high standard overall. Apparently the content of their questions and their appraisals of the course matter were mainly spot on. In my opinion‚ the participants are at a higher level with each passing year‚ and we need to review the course matter and how the course is run (distribution of printed textbooks‚ etc.) accordingly. Technologies in digital-related courses in particular soon become obsolete‚ so I am keenly aware of the need to constantly update the curriculum and content.

However‚ as I mentioned earlier‚ there were considerable differences between the content and level of the participants’ duties‚ and a divergence in their level of interest in and understanding of the course matter could be seen. This is one of the difficulties of group courses‚ but I think it would be effective to make it a two-part course‚ with one part focusing mainly on policies and strategies‚ and the other on boosting the participants’ capacity to put them into practice.

Kitakyushu is a provincial city with a track record of engaging positively with digitalization‚ and it is one of the best locations to hold digital courses. Going forward‚ I hope to see an increase in related courses.