IASP CEO participates in African SEZs Annual Meeting

Hosted by Tanger Med and organised by the Africa Economic Zones Organisation (AEZO), the 2023 African SEZs Annual Meeting took place in Tanger (Morocco) on 22-24 November. The conference provided two insightful days of presentations, technical sessions, and debates around the theme “Fostering sustainable industrialization and economic diversification: a roadmap for African Special Economic Zones”. The Africa Economic Zones Organisation (AEZO), is part of the Global Alliance of SEZs with UNCTAD, of which IASP is also a founding member and collaborates with AEZO and other organisations around the world to enhance sustainable economic development.

IASP CEO Ebba Lund participated in the first technical session, where 5 experts discussed and presented innovations and best practices on “Digitalization: roadmap for African SEZs”. As part of her speech, Ebba presented initiatives that our members around the world have taken over the years to encourage the digitalisation of their community, including some IASP Inspiring Awards Solutions finalists and winners and examples from Austria (Lakeside’s IT curriculum through their Digital Kindergarten), Sweden (Västerås Science Park, where kids develop digital concepts for companies), Kenya (Konza Technopolis’ Jitume programme for digital inclusion of young adults) and Namibia (University of Namibia’s Mobile Lab, that fosters local innovation through digital initiatives for the community)

The fast-paced advancement of digital technologies, data and automatisation is leading us towards a paradigm shift that has a big impact on the broader society, including SEZs and innovation zones where the science park model can play a pivotal role in supporting SMEs, innovation-based companies, and entrepreneurship as we work to address global issues in need for solutions.

As we look towards the IASP 2024 World Conference in Kenya the meeting in Tangier, with attendees from 48 different African countries, also represented a chance to strengthen the connection with the broader African ecosystem and new paths of collaboration for peers around the world.