PS ICT and Digital Economy Eng. John Kipchumba Tanui Meets South Korea’s Vice Minister for Interior and Safety Korea
Principal Secretary for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Digital Economy, Eng. John Kipchumba Tanui, has held high-level strategic discussions with South Korea’s Vice Minister for Interior and Safety, Mr. Kim Min-jae, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in digital transformation, innovation, and smart governance.
The meeting focused on leveraging Kenya-Korea’s over 60-year partnership to accelerate Kenya’s digital agenda through knowledge exchange and technical collaboration.
Key discussion areas included:
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital development
• Open Government Data and Public Data Portals
• Cybersecurity and trusted digital infrastructure
• Data standardization and interoperability
• Digital government transformation and citizen-centered service delivery
• Capacity building and AI training programs
Eng. Tanui highlighted Kenya’s keen interest in Korea’s globally acclaimed model of building a highly integrated, data-driven government ecosystem.
Korea operates a government-wide data-sharing platform supporting over 110,000 public data assets and more than 300,000 digital services, consistently ranking among top OECD countries in open government data.
“Korea’s success offers valuable lessons as Kenya advances its Digital Superhighway agenda, eCitizen ecosystem, Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA), Government Interoperability Framework (GIF), GovSOC, and national AI strategy,” Eng. Tanui noted.
Particular emphasis was placed on Korea’s people-centered approach to AI and digital government, which prioritizes public participation, continuous citizen feedback, efficiency, and the elimination of service duplication to create greater value for citizens.
The two officials also discussed practical enablers such as AI-ready public data, common standards and metadata frameworks, secure privacy-aware data portals, and integrated platforms like Korea’s GOV24.
They explored how strong governance mechanisms, institutional incentives, and national standards can drive seamless cross-agency data exchange and integrated service delivery.
The meeting reaffirmed the strategic importance of the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kenya-AIST) as a flagship outcome of Kenya-Korea cooperation, positioning Kenya as a regional hub for advanced STEM research, AI innovation, semiconductor development, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.
Eng. Tanui expressed gratitude for South Korea’s continued support and friendship, underscoring both nations’ commitment to building inclusive, secure, AI-enabled, and citizen-centered digital societies.
The engagement is expected to pave the way for enhanced technical partnerships, capacity-building programs, and joint initiatives in GovTech and digital economy development.