Two female Ugandan ICT experts- Vivian Dambya and Rowena Turinawe have been named among the 35 Most Influential Women in Tech on the African continent by the November edition of the 2021 CIO Africa Magazine.
Both experts work for the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U), the government of Uganda’s autonomous statutory body that coordinates and regulates Information Technology services in Uganda.
Vivian Dambya is the Director of Technical Services at NITA-U and in her role, she manages the country’s, largest and most stable optical fiber cable Network― the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) that spans over 4,000km across the country connecting more than 600 Government offices.
Rowena Turinawe, the Business Transformation Manager, NITA-U is charged with the overall responsibility of ensuring the use of ICT to transform public service delivery as well as the lives of ordinary Ugandans. This includes the supervision of all government of Uganda’s ICT Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and the development and use of electronic services across Ministries, Departments & Agencies and Local Governments.
The recognition comes at a time when
Vivian and Rowena have, together with other ICT experts from both the private & public sectors, been at the heart of driving the country’s acceleration to digital, amidst workplace and travel restrictions as Uganda and the rest of the world come to terms with the highly infective Covid-19 pandemic.
It is important to recall that the Covid19 pandemic accelerated the adoption and implementation of many technologies that would have taken years, if not decades, to become mainstream. Ugandans switched from high-touch, highly analog daily interactions at work, school, and entertainment avenues to the exact opposite in a span of few weeks.
Before and during the pandemic, then Ugandan ICT has remained one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.
Among the first to congratulate the two Ugandan ICT experts, is Uganda’s Permanent Secretary for ICT and National Guidance, Dr Aminah Zawedde, herself a top ICT expert and board member of the NITA-U.
“Congratulations to our very own Vivian Ddambya and Rowena Turinawe for holding the Women in Tech, Africa Flag high. Uganda is proud of you,” Dr Zawedde tweeted.
Vivian Dambya, Director Technical Services, NITA-U
Driven by a passion to explore what technology can do to transform lives and its practical application to solving everyday problems, Vivian provides technical support and guidance on all matters related to ICT infrastructure, systems and services within Government.
She manages the country’s, largest and most stable optical fiber cable Network, National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) that spans over 4,000km across the country connecting more than 600 Government offices.
With over a decade’s experience in taking Government services online, Vivian, among other responsibilities manages the Uganda Government Tier 3 Cloud Data center. With an up time of 99.98%, the Data Center is a key driver of efficiency and effectiveness for all Government applications thus improving service delivery across Government.
Vivian is a Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP), Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert- Private Cloud (MCSE) and ISO Certified Lead Implementer. She holds a Bachelor of Computer Applications and a Masters in Management of Information Systems.
Rowena Turinawe, Business Transformation Manager, NITA-U
Rowena has over 9 years of national and regional IT service management experience (spanning 5 countries) at mid-management and senior management level in the following fields: e-Governence, business transformation. Strategic planning & implementation, IT service management, delivery of complex projects, stakeholder management, event monitoring and technical support management, process, and policy design as well as service delivery.
Rowena is charged with the overall responsibility of ensuring the use of ICT to transform public service delivery as well as the lives of ordinary Ugandans. This is extended to the supervision of all ICT Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and the development and use of electronic services across Ministries, Departments & Agencies and Local Governments.
Ms. Turinawe holds the following certifications: COBIT 5, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®), Project Management Professional (PMP®), Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and PROSCI Change Management Practitioner.
An ICT evangelist, Rowena also believes that, ‘When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, but when done wrong, all you have is a really fast caterpillar.’