As part of the World Bank-supported West Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP), a technical study tour was organized in the Republic of Korea from June 30 to July 4, 2025, to provide participating West African countries with in-depth exposure to global best practices in government data hosting, cloud transition, and institutional data governance.
The study tour was developed in response to growing demand among WARDIP countries for practical guidance on how to modernize legacy infrastructure, strengthen institutional data governance, and improve the energy efficiency and resilience of public sector data systems. Many governments in West Africa continue to rely on fragmented on-premises systems, face limited cloud readiness, and operate under outdated legal frameworks—all of which constrain service delivery and increase operational and security risks.
The Republic of Korea offers an integrated model of national digital governance and key objectives included to:
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Deepen technical understanding of how Korea has structured its public data infrastructure—including digital government, government cloud architecture, and data operational standards across ministries
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Examine institutional governance models, including the division of mandates between MOIS, MSIT, NIA, and PIPC; and explore how policy coordination is operationalized
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Assess Korea’s strategies for integrating climate resilience, energy efficiency, and security standards into the design, maintenance, and upgrading of public data infrastructure
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Explore the legal and regulatory frameworks governing data protection, data portability, AI ethics, and citizen trust, including Korea’s transition to cloud-neutral legal instruments
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Foster practical exchanges with Korean public agencies and private sector partners on implementation strategies, capacity building, and public-private partnerships
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Inform project design and policy formulation in WARDIP countries by identifying adaptable institutional and infrastructure models for national contexts
The tour provided a uniquely practical lens on how institutional design, regulatory coherence, and infrastructure resilience can be co-developed as mutually reinforcing pillars of digital transformation. As West African countries accelerate their efforts under WARDIP and national digital transformation, and several strategic reflections emerged from the Korean experience.
