It was at the ADIE headquarters, a building isolated from the administrative centers, nestled at the entrance to Technopole that we met Cheikh Bakhoum, Director General of the State IT Agency. Well-tailored suit, fitted tie, the man is courteous. We don't feel the barrier that sometimes exists between a director and his colleagues. He shakes everyone's hand and, at times, takes the time to talk with his agents. He invites us into a glass meeting room, from where we can have a panoramic view of the “green lung” of Dakar; the Niayes. With Cheikh Bakhoum, we discussed several questions relating to the program “ Smart Sénégal », its components, its objectives of making the Senegalese Administration more efficient and boosting the digital economy. We also discussed ADIE's vision, its missions and Senegal's place in the digital economy, in West Africa and on the continent.

Can you, Mr. Director General, present to us the program “ Smart Sénégal »?
The programme Smart Sénégal is part of the “Smart Africa” project which is an initiative launched a few years ago with a few countries such as Rwanda, Senegal and many other African countries. In this initiative, “Smart Africa”, the objective is for the continent to be able to make digital the engine of the transformation of our economy through the development of “broadband” infrastructures*. Senegal, with President Macky SALL, is in charge of this component which also has the ambition to develop a certain number of applications which could be used by all the countries of our continent, stakeholders in this project. It was President Macky Sall who went to negotiate the program in China. It was he who launched the program “ Smart Sénégal » and who entrusted it to ADIE. It is under his leadership that all this is being implemented.
Smart Senegal, which aims to put digital technology at the heart of the lives of our fellow citizens, is made up of several components (Smart Education, Safe City, Smart Territories, Wireless City, Submarine Cables Editor's note).

How much is the funding for Smart Sénégal and what order is it?

The overall financing of Smart Sénégal is 150 million dollars (or approximately 83 billion FCFA) with the five components. It is a financing agreement with the People's Republic of China. During the last visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Dakar, China granted a concessional loan of $150 million to the State of Senegal to finance this first phase of the program. Smart Sénégal ».

So there should be another phase for this program?

We hope that there will be other phases with other partners to allow “ Smart Sénégal » to be a reality in all localities in Senegal.

And what are the deadlines for completing projects? Smart Sénégal ?

The program will last two years. It started in January 2019 and should end in January 2021.

Are there shutters? Smart Sénégal for which results can already be seen?

Yes. I think that on the Education side, work is being done in all universities. Rooms are being equipped. Most telecom equipment has already been deployed in universities. Also, on the Wi-Fi aspect during the last Afrobasket, we saw that the stadium was completely covered by the internet. We are also in the process of connecting Blaise Diagne International Airport and the UCAD social campus. These sites are among the 84 points in Senegal that should be covered by public Wi-Fi. Beyond this aspect, on the “Smart Territories” part, with the “Citizen’s Houses”, work is underway in Thiès, Kaolack, Fatick, Louga and several other departmental capitals which should house these buildings. I think that within two years, all the projects will be completed.

What is the place of this program in the “Emerging Senegal Plan”?

In the Emerging Senegal Plan, digital technology is a lever that should help all sectors improve their productivity. In this perspective, in phase II of the Emerging Senegal Plan, Smart Sénégal is called upon to resolve a certain number of issues, particularly on public security but also on the Education aspect, and the general improvement of public service through the “Citizen's Houses” which will be built in the 45 departments of Senegal. It is therefore, clearly, a full-fledged program of the development plan of the government of Senegal which will be monitored by the Operational Monitoring Office [BOS] of the Emerging Senegal Plan.

There is a national digital strategy which was launched in 2016, “Senegal Numerique 2025”. Is it that Smart Sénégal has a special connection with her?

Indeed, the 2025 national strategy was adopted by the government of Senegal and is, today, managed by our supervisory authority, the Ministry of the Digital Economy and Telecommunications. The 2025 national strategy has an important digital transformation component of the Administration. There are several projects planned as part of this strategy and today the Shared Service Centers (CSP) planned in this strategy are included in what we are going to do at the Citizen's Houses level. Almost all of the components of this “digital transformation” strategy of the Administration are supported by “ Smart Sénégal ».

In the “Senegal Digital 2025” Strategy, Senegal wants to achieve a 10% contribution from digital technology to its GDP. What can the program bring? Smart Sénégal » to achieving this objective?

In any case, with Smart Sénégal we are going to simplify procedures at the public service level, because that is one of the challenges; with accessibility, which our Administration will have to address. We must allow citizens and investors to have access, in record time and anywhere, to public services with platforms accessible throughout the national territory. I think this will strengthen the role of the Administration with “Shared Service Centers” allowing all sectors of our economic and social life to benefit from digital technology. Through Smart Sénégal, we will create new jobs. Because in each of the “Citizen’s Houses”, operators will be trained in digital, in the use of digital applications to offer Senegalese citizens the best possible public service. I think that at the end of the implementation process, Smart Sénégal will largely contribute to digital technology accounting for 2025% of GDP by 10.

Submarine cables are an important component of Smart Sénégal. How will their deployment improve connectivity in Senegal?

We plan to have a minimum of 100 gigs in terms of bandwidth passante international with the possibility of scaling up to an additional 200 gigabytes.

Submarine cables are the subject elsewhere, for example in France, of a serious debate on sovereignty. A country like Senegal which perhaps does not have the financial means to have its own cables exposes its data to suppliers. Is this the price to pay?

In any case, most cables that cross oceans, or continents, are owned by companies. It is not the States which, in general, have invested in the installation of cables. States can ally themselves with operators at the continental or international level. For example “Main One” is owned by a Nigerian company, the same for “Glow One”. Regarding the issue of sovereignty, I think that it finds all its relevance at the local level. Fiber at the local level must be owned by the State of Senegal. This is the case with most of the network installed by ADIE. At the international level, we must necessarily establish partnerships with fiber optic operators.

This also poses the problem of data with the “Datacenters” which will be installed in Senegal. What is planned in terms of protecting this data?

Today we have two Datacenters which are functioning and which host most of the data of the Senegalese Administration. We are in the process of building two other Tier 3 type “Datacenters” in Diamniadio. This will make it possible to host almost all of the Administration's data and even beyond. Other Datacenters will have to be built because, as you pointed out, the problem of data sovereignty and confidentiality arises. The legislation of certain countries must push us to this because clearly the data that we manage must be accessible at all times, we must also ensure their protection to the extent that this does not contradict the laws of the countries that would host those data.

We are increasingly talking about open data or “Open Data” in English. With the data centers that will be built, will we have open or confidential data?

At the state level, we are in line with Open Data. There are also, at the data level, classifications to be made; there is data that can be public and accessible to everyone. There are others which must be kept by the State because they are considered confidential, secret. Based on this classification, we must make our data accessible to everyone to allow the private sector, the Senegalese and all those who are interested in this data to be able to access it. We must also develop applications that will be used by all sectors and ensure that digital technology can create jobs and develop activities that will be useful to the Senegalese. Senegal must learn to open its data by allowing startups and companies working in the field to develop activities that provide added value for the country and our fellow citizens.

Do you think that the mere fact that the Datacenter is physically on Senegalese territory is a guarantee of security of the data that will be stored there?

In general, people know the physical locations where Datacenters are located. Just because the location of a data center is known does not mean that it is possible to access it and “crack” the data hosted there…

The fact that the data centers are on national territory is therefore a guarantee of security…

Yes (without hesitation). First, if the data centers are at the national level, we can secure them physically. If there is a problem, we can intervene. But if your data is hosted elsewhere you have no control when you are attacked or even when you have problems between States. You may have difficulty accessing your own data. I think our sovereignty must be preserved. The State of Senegal has taken the option of building these Datacenters. We also encourage the private sector to develop them to expand the offer and make Senegal a “hub” in terms of data hosting. I think this is a strategic aspect of data management. Senegal is, geographically, well placed to constitute this hub at the level of the sub-region, or even the continent.

You spoke earlier about Maisons du Citoyen with “Smart Territories”. These are houses made for citizens to come and request administrative services. However, with digital today we should not normally need to travel to access public services. In two clicks on the Internet we should be able to obtain them…

I think that a person who knows about it, who has the ability to carry out online transactions will not necessarily need to go to these “Citizen's Houses” to be able to obtain these documents from the Administration. I think we really need this intermediate level. Physical contact cannot disappear immediately because, when we put applications online and we do not support populations in their use, we see that the rate of use of digital tools is extremely weak. Countries like France and others much more developed have tried this. The observation is the same; Most citizens continued to go to the physical counter to request their administrative documents. What should we do in this situation? I think we need this intermediate level to have one-stop shops run by well-trained agents capable of quickly processing requests from fellow citizens. Sometimes this can be complicated for users; you can “upload” a document without the operation being successful. It is more appropriate, in this case, to be accompanied by a state agent whose main task will be this, and who will be able to deliver the requested document in an appropriate manner. This is clearly what justifies the establishment of these “Citizen’s Houses” which will allow everyone, even those who are not familiar with digital, to be able to use digital to obtain public services. Administration. Farmers, artisans, everyone will be able to have administrative documents in record time. This is also the objective, we need quality service within short deadlines. We must allow every Senegalese to have access to these services.

But one should not preclude the other. There are, of course, people who have difficulties but there are others who are much more gifted…

(He interrupts the question) They will have their applications online. They will not need to come to the “Citizen’s Houses”. The application will be online. The address will be monservicepublic.gouv.sn. Even if you are in Paris or outside Senegalese territory, you can make your requests directly

With “Safe City” how can we ensure maximum security in a global context marked by cyberattacks and the ingenuity of hackers who, it seems, are a step ahead of cybersecurity?

I think that at this level, there is no “zero risk” in IT. Unfortunately, this is the other side of the coin with data on the Internet. It is very difficult to have 100% security. But today our States must invest more in cybersecurity infrastructures and as part of Safe City, we plan to have an entity dedicated to this issue. A cybersecurity center will be set up to better monitor state networks and, beyond that, all those operating in Senegal. Substantial resources will be made available to address this issue. Because it is certain that we must strengthen our security systems to deal with cybercriminals.

Compared to Smart Education, it is a real challenge in a developing country. How do you specify the challenge of education with digital technology?

I think education is the key to the development of every country. Because if we have increasingly educated populations, we will really be able to take charge of the problems of our development. We cannot have good agriculture if we do not have enough engineers in the field. We can't have a good industry if we don't have technicians capable of taking care of it. This is valid for medicine and for all other sectors. We must, clearly, focus on our education to be able to develop our country. Today, digital technology is the best shortcut to having a critical mass of well-trained Senegalese people capable of taking charge of our economic and social development. Thanks to digital technology, we will expand the education offering that already exists because cartography; in terms of primary and secondary schools, is of good quality in most municipalities in Senegal. Today we have several universities in Dakar, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor, Bambey and soon in Sine Saloum and Diamniadio. Beyond this offer, we have the “Virtual University of Senegal” which, exclusively with digital technology, allows many Senegalese who until now have no access to higher education to be able to be trained. If we did not have this telecommunications infrastructure, this would not be possible. If we didn't have the IT resources we needed, we wouldn't be able to deliver this type of education. Today, thanks to digital technology and the “ Smart Sénégal » which will equip all these universities and allow the UVS to strengthen itself and have much more capacity for online teaching, we will be able to strengthen the education offer in our country.

In other countries around the world we are talking about undocumented education. Does Smart Education have this vision?

We will consider this Smart Education part as a phase of experimentation in teaching with digital technology. We chose 32 primary and secondary schools to create “100% digital classes” with boards and digital workstations that will be used by the students. On this basis, a real transformation will take place in our schools. Of course, we are going to make these technologies available but we are also going to train teachers to deliver their lessons with these types of digital media. Depending on the results obtained, we could consider generalizing this to all establishments in Senegal. In any case, it is a challenge that we have set ourselves and we hope that thanks to this initiative, generalized digital education can, in a few years, be a reality in Senegal.

Now let's come to ADIE. What is the role of the structure that you lead in the general organization of the State?

The State IT Agency is a structure attached to the Ministry of the Digital Economy and Telecommunications. It is a transversal entity in the Administration to allow our State to be able to rationalize its IT expenses but above all to equip itself with a coherent information system allowing the State of Senegal to be able to use digital technology as a lever of economic transformation.

How is the work of your agency the guarantee of greater efficiency of the Senegalese Administration?

Our work, as I told you earlier, consists of supporting all the ministries, all the components of the State, to equip ourselves with an information system, to modernize, because clearly we see that our Administration has been functioning less than optimally since independence. Today we need to exchange more data, connect to the world and, most importantly, make digital boost all sectors of our economy. This is why ADIE initially tackled the problem of connectivity. We all know that digital is only possible if we have the telecommunications infrastructure to develop applications that will be deployed. It is within this framework that we have deployed nearly 4500 km of optical fiber to interconnect almost all administrations both in Dakar and in the regions. Beyond this connectivity issue, we were also concerned with the hosting of the Administration's data and we are the entity responsible for ensuring the project management of all of the IT projects of the Administration. State. Thus, any ministry, any State entity having a project to set up an information system, calls on ADIE experts to design the architecture and allow these systems to be interoperable and to be able to be operational using the resources available at the State IT Agency.

From what you explained to us about the program “ Smart Sénégal » and the role of ADIE, can we, today, know the place of Senegal in terms of digital technology in West Africa?

I think that Senegal is considered a cutting-edge country in the digital field. The State IT Agency was created in 2004, inaugurating a unique mode of organization in the sub-region. But since Senegal took this option, we have seen that many countries have followed its example. This shows, in the case of the innovative concept of State IT, the pioneering role of Senegal. In terms of telecoms infrastructure, we are one of the countries at the forefront of broadband infrastructure in the sub-region and even the continent. We have very good telecommunications infrastructures through traditional operators but also ADIE fiber. Today, the challenge is to strengthen the presence of the Administration on the Internet, and to improve the online services offered to users of the Public Administration.