Policy Strategy and Implementation for Data Centres and Cloud Technology in Africa

Welcome to your course on Policy, Strategy and Implementation for Data Centres and Cloud!

Where a nation's data lives, and who controls it, is now a sovereignty question as much as a technical one. This advanced course equips senior officials to make the policy, strategy and procurement decisions behind data centres and cloud, so that digital public services run on infrastructure that is reliable, affordable and under appropriate national control.

The curriculum covers the four sovereignty objectives and the Tier I to IV classification that benchmarks data-centre reliability, the outsourcing models and cloud service layers (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, FaaS), and the four security layers that protect them. You will then apply CAPEX versus OPEX and Total Cost of Ownership thinking to procurement, and weigh the governance and rollout choices, from set-asides for local providers to Pilot-to-Target sequencing, that deliver a sovereign cloud.

By mastering these concepts, you will be equipped to design or evaluate a Cloud-First, hybrid or selective-adoption framework for the public sector in your own context.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the four sovereignty objectives and the Tier I to IV framework that benchmarks data-centre reliability.
• Analyse outsourcing models, cloud service layers (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, FaaS) and the four security layers within your localised context.
• Apply CAPEX versus OPEX financial models and Total Cost of Ownership thinking to data-centre and cloud procurement decisions.
• Evaluate the policy, governance and rollout considerations, such as set-asides for local providers and Pilot-to-Target sequencing, required to deliver a sovereign cloud.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for senior officials, procurement leads, and cloud governance professionals across Africa. It is highly beneficial for individuals who are:

• Involved in national data-centre strategy, cloud procurement, or sovereign-cloud governance.
• Seeking to design or evaluate Cloud-First, hybrid, or selective-adoption frameworks for the public sector.
• Responsible for aligning data and cloud policy with national digital strategy, data protection laws, and the African Datacenters and Cloud Marketplace.