Across many sectors in Kenya today, it is hard to go a day without coming across the words digital, digitisation, and the phrase digital transformation. The words and phrases linked to digital have become buzzwords.

Companies routinely declare that they are ‘going digital’, individuals are proud to be identified as digital, and Kenya is generally known for its digital affinity, with increasing smartphone penetration and internet access.

There is a large network of entrepreneurs, start-ups and innovation hubs fuelling rapid growth in Kenya’s digital economy. Kenya has also established a reputation as a Silicon Savannah, the point on the continent that can drive technological advancement on this side of the world.

The ambition to play a part in the growth of the Silicon Savannah is why, as it turned 20 in 2020, Safaricom announced its new vision—to become a purpose-led digital company by 2025.

For many, the question that lingers in the mind is: What is digital transformation? What’s the difference between digitisation and digitalisation, and how do they relate to digital transformation?

On the latest episode of the Safaricom Newsroom podcast, we set out to explore digital transformation, and who better than Joe Kanyua, the Head of Digital Transformation at Safaricom to expound on the subject?

Joe is a self-confessed digital transformation evangelist who lives by the mantra that technology is about making an impact on people, making people live and work better, and his job is to make people understand this.

Digitisation is taking something from an analogue format to a digital one, like converting a newspaper or a book to digital form by scanning it. This makes it easier to archive, send, and for it to exist in perpetuity.

Digitalisation involves introducing digital technologies in the business process to make it more intelligent, productive, effective, and less prone to errors and risks.

“When you do both digitisation and digitalisation, then you can see the value because the content in digitisation can be used in digitalisation, which improves your business,” says Joe.

Digital transformation is the next stage, and that is the systems-level restructuring that happens when you diffuse digital technologies. It sounds a little complex, but Joe broke it down further in this conversation with Julian Kamau, Manager, Content Generation at Safaricom.

Watch the video below for the full conversation.