What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation simply means new ways of doing things and bringing in new ideas or improving what already exists to solve challenges brought about by new ways of living. Overtime, the word Innovation is commonly associated with technology for the simple reason that modern life is technology driven.
Why do innovation and entrepreneurship matter?
One must know the modern tools required to drive business as ICTs have taken centre stage in driving businesses. It is therefore important to keep introducing something new as this allows you to turn great ideas into opportunities.
How do you breed a culture of innovation within your organization?
First, I encourage colleagues to always think outside the box and come up with new ideas and processes. These ideas should create value that in turn results in more benefits. In positioning our organization, we engage in strategic thinking which is translated into our Strategic Plans, which I believe is very invaluable.
Do you consider yourself a disruptive thinker?
Yes. I believe in transforming the normal ways of doing business into more progressive ones using technology that upsets conventional structures. Indeed, I have introduced a way of doing business in our organization with most services transacted online.
What is the biggest challenge facing Botswana and how do you believe it can be overcome?
The biggest challenge facing Botswana is the lack of relevant local content which can be monetized and marketed internationally. Local innovators are yet to penetrate the international market digital content platforms with competitive content.
Competition on global digital platforms is fierce and our small population also disadvantages us. Batswana should understand that the future lies in the internet and in this regard applications and content should be created to enable citizens to create value for the economy.
What leadership skills do you value most?
Innovative and results driven leadership that is more focused on achieving value addition.
What has been the toughest business related challenge that you have overcome?
Ensuring that as many schools as is possible go online for children to be trained in using ICTs. It’s an ongoing objective that is very close to my heart and I can confidently say we are succeeding, albeit at a slower pace than I would like.
Tell us about an initiative or venture that you have participated in that has had a positive impact.
Universal connectivity of citizens using ICTs is one of the many initiatives that I have and continue to be involved with. Botswana by its nature is sparsely populated and geographically vast making it difficult to easily connect the population to ICTs. But we are making headway and more than 90% of the population in Botswana is now connected through different technologies.
Where does your passion lie and how have you pursued that professionally?
My passion lies in Youth and women empowerment as I believe they are the future leaders of this world. I have made sure that I provide job opportunities for Youth in ICTs throughout Botswana and have equalized gender parity in the work place.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
From my passion for national development, as well as from leaders who empower their citizens to be independent thinkers. I look forward to the day Botswana will have transited from developing to developed status.
