Uganda Unlocks Data Power: Minister Ssebugwawo, Dr. Amina Zawedde Launch Landmark National Data Strategy

Kampala, Uganda — In a defining moment for Uganda’s digital future, Hon. Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo, Minister of State for ICT and National Guidance (Information), officially launched the country’s National Data Strategy on 20 October 2026 at the Mestil Hotel in Kampala. The five-year blueprint (2026/27–2030/31) sets a shared national direction for how Uganda will manage, protect, share and use data as a strategic asset to drive development, improve public services and support economic transformation.

The launch, held under the theme “Unlocking the Power of Data for Uganda’s Transformation,” brought together government officials, development partners including UN Global Pulse Uganda and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), private-sector leaders, academia and civil society. It marks a deliberate shift from treating data as a passive administrative byproduct to wielding it as a national economic asset essential for evidence-based planning, decision-making and service delivery.

Dr. Amina Zawedde, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, underscored the strategy’s inclusive origins and whole-of-government foundation. “Uganda’s National Data Strategy is homegrown, shaped by input from public institutions, the private sector, civil society and academia, and guided by a whole-of-government approach to managing and using data,” she said. She described the document as an executive operational blueprint rather than a theoretical publication, designed to improve coordination across institutions so that data is well managed, secure and put to good use in addressing citizens’ needs.

The strategy rests on three core pillars — data governance, data infrastructure and strategic data utilisation — reinforced by two critical enablers: people and culture, and research, innovation and entrepreneurship. It aligns with Uganda Vision 2040, the Digital Uganda Vision, the Digital Transformation Roadmap and the Fourth National Development Plan’s ambition of tenfold economic growth. Officials noted that Uganda currently has verifiable data for only about 36 per cent of NDP IV indicators; the strategy aims to raise this to 80 per cent within five years while expanding cross-system integration from 135 to 300 government platforms via the Ug-Hub.

Implementation is projected to cost approximately UGX 1.66 trillion over five years. Allocations include roughly UGX 684.9 billion for data infrastructure (including two Tier IV data centres with 10 petabytes of sovereign storage capacity and 99.9 per cent uptime targets), UGX 553 billion for data governance, UGX 319 billion for research, innovation and entrepreneurship, UGX 71.4 billion for strategic utilisation and UGX 34 billion for people and culture. Funding is expected primarily from government budgets, supplemented by non-tax revenue from value-added data services, development partners and private-sector investment.

Minister Ssebugwawo emphasised that the strategy provides a practical framework for better coordination, ensuring data informs decisions that improve lives. “Today, we are not simply launching a document. We are setting a shared direction for how Uganda can better manage, protect, share and use data to drive national development,” she stated. She stressed that protecting people’s privacy, building public trust and ensuring data is used responsibly must remain priorities as implementation begins. The framework incorporates data anonymisation and pseudonymisation techniques in line with the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019, and is guided by principles of integrity and ethics, protection and security, transparency and accountability, trust, standardisation, and equity and inclusivity.

Dr. Zawedde further highlighted the strategy’s role in laying groundwork for Uganda’s forthcoming National AI Strategy and in reducing fragmented systems that force citizens and agencies to submit duplicate information. By investing in modern data centres, processing systems, analytical tools and capacity building for public servants, the plan seeks to eliminate wasteful duplication, raise data quality and unlock opportunities for innovation and economic growth.

Developed with technical support from UN Global Pulse Uganda and scaling assistance from UNDP, the National Data Strategy positions Uganda among African peers advancing comprehensive national data frameworks. As the country moves from launch to implementation, officials reiterated that success will depend on sustained collaboration, robust privacy safeguards and a culture that treats high-quality, accessible data as indispensable to national progress.

The launch represents a pivotal milestone in Uganda’s digital transformation journey — one that seeks to turn data into better information, better decisions and, ultimately, better outcomes for all Ugandans.