Obaseki: Work Culture, Digital Capability of Edo Workers Yielding Good Results

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said his government’s commitment to enhancing work culture in the civil and public service and improvement of the digital capability of workers in the state to ensure effective and efficient service delivery to Edo people are yielding good results.

Obaseki said this while reviewing activities of change agents at the i-Learn Series/Design Sprint Showcase held at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA).

The programme was organized by the ACIOE Associates and Public Digital, in partnership with the Edo State Government.

The governor who was represented by his Special Adviser, Strategy, Policy, Projects and Performance Management, Sarah Esangbedo Ajose-Adeogun, said the state, as part of deliberate efforts to enhance the digital capability of workers, selected representatives across various MDAs as change agents, empowering them to effectively and efficiently deploy technology to identify problems and proffer solutions to challenges.

According to her, “For the past one year, those selected to serve as change agents underwent a series of training on how to identify problems in the service and provide digital solutions to these problems. This forum provides the opportunity for them to demonstrate their capabilities.

“With the advent of technology, the average Edo civil servant should be ready to move from the analogue to digital, and with the change agents who will serve as bedrocks, the process will be seamless.

“We are working with the digital change agents, putting them through a process with some of our partners, helping us solve problems we have identified in the Civil/Public Service.

“Today, they are showcasing some of the digital solutions they have been able to come up with. We have seen two of those solutions. One is the emergency service solution and the other is the farmers’ database solutions.”

She added, “We are also talking about the sixth iLearn Series where we have spoken to the people about changing the culture of Edo State Government in terms of becoming more collaborative and commercially aware; looking at every penny we spend and ensuring it produces the right outcome.

“As a government, we should be professional in interfacing with our customers on a daily basis. We should be able to communicate with the people and let them know what we are doing in Edo State.

“We have done six iLearn Series this year with the change agents, and trained the trainers to go into the MDAs to ensure that we all know where we are going as a state and where we are going is our vision 2050, to make Edo State the best state to live and prosper.”

One of the facilitators and Managing Partner at ACIOE Associates, Ekenem lsichri said the programme is designed to enhance the digital capability of public and civil servants to begin to offer more efficient services for the people.

“The whole idea is how to incorporate a new digital culture and framework, leveraging on what Edo State is already doing. We are not bringing anything new but only supporting layers to transform the civil/public service.

“We are helping them provide effective and efficient services to the people of Edo State. We are encouraged by the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki who is a visionary and reformer.”