CIO-CXO Forum advisory council member George Ouma says regular engagement between government, businesses and innovators could help remove economic bottlenecks and accelerate digital solutions to support Uganda’s 2040 growth ambitions.
Uganda’s ambition to build a $500 billion (Shs1,900 trillion) economy by 2040 will require closer collaboration between government, businesses and technology innovators, with the CIO-CXO Forum proposing quarterly engagements to turn digital solutions into measurable economic gains.
George Ouma, Senior Manager for IT Projects at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and an advisory council member of the CIO-CXO Forum, said technology must move beyond its traditional support role and become a central driver of productivity, job creation and service delivery.
“Technology has to be seen not as a support function, but as the driver of our economic growth,” Ouma said at a stakeholder engagement on aligning the ICT sector with the Fourth National Development Plan and the tenfold growth strategy.
He said Uganda continues to grapple with the high cost of doing business, low productivity, fragmented services and limited market access, challenges that technology-driven solutions could help address across agriculture, finance, healthcare, education and public administration.
“These are not just simply technology improvements. These are economic opportunities,” Ouma said, citing the potential for digital platforms to connect farmers to markets, link young people to global employment opportunities and enable businesses to access faster, more efficient services.
The CIO-CXO Forum, a network of senior technology and digital leaders from government and the private sector, brings together chief information officers, technology executives and cybersecurity specialists from sectors including banking, telecommunications, insurance and financial technology.
The forum seeks to provide a platform for industry leaders to identify shared challenges, engage policymakers and develop practical solutions aligned with Uganda’s national development priorities.
Ouma said the forum was proposing a national digital innovation and opportunity pipeline to connect local innovators with real challenges facing public and private institutions, allowing them to develop, test and scale solutions based on actual demand.
“Instead of innovators building solutions, then searching for customers, we will connect them to real demand from the start,” he said.
He also revealed that NSSF had agreed in principle to collaborate with the forum on digital innovation sandboxes, alongside relevant partners, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The proposed initiative would explore technology solutions to challenges such as customer onboarding, benefits processing, fraud prevention and operational efficiency. However, formal partnership and governance arrangements are still being developed.
The forum is also proposing quarterly government-industry engagements to assess progress, address implementation bottlenecks and agree on priority actions.
Within the first 90 to 180 days, participating institutions would identify key opportunities and develop an initial action plan.
Ouma said Uganda’s economic ambition would require more than investment in technology, calling for coordinated action among government, businesses and innovators to translate digital opportunities into tangible economic growth.
“A USD 500 billion economy by 2040 requires more than technology investment. It requires collaboration, innovation and disciplined execution,” he said.