The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has chosen the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) as one of the 17 World Acceleration Centers globally. Macra will now be part of ITU’s flagship Network of Acceleration Centers, which aims to drive digital transformation.
The Acceleration Centers will adopt an ecosystem-thinking approach to enhance capabilities and promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and digitalization of economies. They will contribute to the goals of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development and assist countries in building local enablers to bridge the digital innovation gap.
The Network of Acceleration Centers will equip countries with the necessary tools to unlock innovation for sustainable digital transformation. It will work towards developing more resilient and forward-thinking approaches in today’s digital world to shape the digital future.
The Centers will enhance national, regional, and global innovation capabilities in areas such as technology, policy, and flagship initiative development. Each Acceleration Center will focus on strategic objectives including trends research readiness to stay ahead of technological advancements, open technology innovation to harness global goods through collaboration, accelerating access to emerging technology, promoting entrepreneurship and SMEs growth to achieve socio-economic inclusion, policy experimentation to provide a safe space for innovation, and ecosystem initiatives acceleration to foster collaboration and achieve a competitive digital economy.
The selection of Macra as an Acceleration Center highlights its role in bridging the Digital Innovation Divide and supporting ITU’s development priorities. Macra will empower ITU’s members to overcome challenges in their digital transformation journey.
Overall, ITU’s Network of Acceleration Centers will drive innovation and digital development on a global scale, bringing together various stakeholders to shape the future of digital economies.