At least 200 government communication officers have kicked off a week-long training in digital storytelling by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance together with MultiChoice Uganda.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at the National ICT Innovations Hub in Nakawa, the Ministry of ICT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Aminah Zawedde said the training is aimed at skilling government spokespersons on to communicate effectively in the digital edge.
“We live in a world that changes at the speed of a click and in such a digital society, communication is not optional but foundational. It is how we build trust, manage crises and how we correct misinformation and tell the stories that matter. The training therefore is meant to transform how government communicates in the digital edge,” Dr.Zawedde said.
She said the training will equip the government communicators with digital literacy skills.
“Many affiliate digital literacy to IT professionals but it is not true. It is the order of the day now in the world. Everyone has to be digitally literate because of the way the world changes.”
“This program is not only about how to use digital tools but unlocking new ways of thinking, creating and connecting with the people we serve.”
Social media
The Ministry of ICT Permanent Secretary said with social media platforms like Whats App, X, Tik Tok and You Tube taking over the world, it is high time Ugandan government spokespersons learnt how to effectively use these platforms to communicate government positions but also correct misinformation.
“We must be ready to address the challenge of misinformation and effectively play in the field of social media because if government is not there(on social media) to communicate, how shall we know what goes on there? We are to look at visual storytelling and content creating for visual platforms as a new way of communicating,” Dr.Zawedde said.
The MultiChoice Uganda Managing Director, Hassan Saleh said the training is part of a Memorandum of Understanding that they signed with the Ministry of ICT on fruitful collaborations last year.
“Part of the MOU is skilling up public relations and communications experts for the ministry. We needed to skill up the experts tasked with government communication on how to better tell the Ugandan story,” Saleh said.
“This training will handle issues around crisis management communication, localization of government communication, visual media storytelling and phantomization.”
He said the pay tv company is committed to fostering local talent by investing in it.
According to Rinaldi Jamugisa, the PR and Communications Manager for MultiChoice Uganda said the training and upskilling is meant to train the government communicators on how to package message to be received by the populace in an effective way across the country in the languages they understand.