Who: Instructors Marcienne Umubyeyi and Jessica Massie (MIIS alumna) will lead a 2-week training in Kigali with travel to surrounding Rwandan cities on the role of digital transformation in driving resilience in Rwanda and East Africa.
What: Training on digital transformation and development in Rwanda with an emphasis on mobile technologies and development projects in Fintech, AgTech and other sectors. Course will include meetings with governmental, NGO, IGO, and civil society representatives from the private sector and local communities.
Where: 2-weeks at key sites in Kigali, Rwanda with travel to Rwinkwavu and Butare, Rwanda.
When: January 12-25, 2025
Information Session: Recording (Passcode: MIIS2024!)
Who: This course is open to MIIS students, Middlebury College students, and alumni.
Application Deadline: Applications due October 15.
Optional East Africa Internship: MIIS students can complete an internship in East Africa June-August 2025 after the completion of the training at one of the many partner organizations in Kigali, Rwanda or Nairobi, Kenya. Contact Carolyn Meyer (cmeyer@middlebury.edu) to learn more.
Learning Objectives
- Knowledge of the development context in Rwanda (Demographics, Economic Landscape, Actors, Financial and Digital Inclusion as Country-level Goals)
- Understanding of the role of digital transformation in development projects (Types of Products and Services, Drivers and Barriers, Policies and Regulations, Assessment and Long-Term Planning)
- Planning and Managing Digital Transformations (Systems-thinking, ICT, Top-Down vs Bottom-up Approaches)
- Application of intercultural competence, power, and privilege considerations in course discussions, project design, and personal reflection.
- Development of a small client project in collaboration with local partner and/or local university students.
Background:
All countries are moving towards increased digitalization in all sectors and facets of society. Rwanda offers an important case study in how a low income country is moving to a middle income status. The course will explore what role digitalization plays in Rwanda’s development planning. Course content will explore opportunities and challenges of digitalization in transforming an economy. Participants will explore how digital projects can expand economic opportunity to underserved communities. The course will include site visits with key actors engaged in development digitalization projects. Participants will engage with local graduate students and an NGO partner to complete an exploratory project by the end of the course.
Proposed Site Visits:
- Digital Transformation Center Rwanda
- Rwandan Information Society Authority
- Inshuti Mu Buzima (Partners in Health), Rwinkwavu
- Inkomoto-Inclusive Growth for Thriving Communities
- ALight Rwanda (Serving Displaced Peoples)
- UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
- UNHCR
- CARE Rwanda
- Village Savings and Loans Associations
- UNICEF Economic Justice and Rights Coalition
Key Issues Covered:
- Digital financial services for health in support of universal health coverage
- Pay By Text Using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)
- Types of Digital Products and Services Available (How are they accessed?, Cost, Convenience, Assessibility)
- Digitalization Across Fintech, Agritech, and other industries
- Digitalization Policy and Regulations: Rwandan Case Study with Comparative Analysis with Movements in Other Countries
- Cashless Societies
- Digitalizing Person-to-Government Payments
- Development of Digital Skills
- Imagery and Serving Illiterate Populations
- School Connectivity and Building Teacher Skillsets
Potential Internship Partners:
- Team4Tech (San Francisco and Uganda)
- CRS Rwanda
- CRS Kenya
- Inkomoko (Rwanda)
- UNICEF (Rwanda and Kenya)
- FAO (Kenya)
- UNDP (Kenya and Rwanda)
- SOLA (Rwanda)
Contact: cmeyer@middlebury.edu; 831-647-6417