Thursday, November 25, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Dakar – The digital transition of African press agencies is “not an option, it is a condition of existence”, underlined, in Dakar on Thursday, Mr Samba Kone, chairman of the National Press Authority of the Coast. ivory teeth.
At a conference on “the digital transition, urgency and challenges of African news agencies” held on the sidelines of the 8th meeting of the Executive Council of the Atlantic Federation of African News Agencies (FAAPA), the chairman, who is keen on Dakar, Mr. Koene recalled that digital The concept of transition is “far from being a new or recent phenomenon”. “Thirty years ago and probably more, we were already talking about digital transformation,” said the former director of the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP).
Digital transition refers to the integration of new technologies into all company activities that aim, among other things, to improve company performance while making it easier for workers.
“Facing with the various changes that have taken place since the advent of the Internet, the need for an organization, a company, to adapt to innovations is imperative,” said Mr. Coone. “It is not an option. It is a survival situation. It is exclusively for the company, in this case, the press agency to adapt to the various changes that are taking place”, he stressed, for at least two reasons. “May stimulate and justify this quest to adapt, i.e. to remain competitive or develop one’s activity”.
Mr. Koone said that if the press agencies have adapted without much difficulty to these various technological changes, the innovations focused not only on the product, the information media, the dispatch which completely changed in nature, format But this technological development also affected the uses in this case by radically changing the behavior of consumers.
According to him, the digital transition is “essential for a variety of reasons” for press agencies as it allows “to receive, in real time, volumes of data on their clients and potential clients”.
Mr Basamba Samke, Digital Manager at the Senegalese Press Agency (APS), for his part, underlined that digital transformation is a question of “being or disappearing” for press agencies, emphasizing the need for these bodies “to be social”. network” and to establish a digital strategy aimed at reviewing the content.
“It is an obligation for news agencies,” he said, noting that all news agencies are now obliged to invest in digital to “survive and be more competitive”.
The FAAPA, which currently brings together about twenty African press agencies, constitutes a professional forum to promote the exchange of experiences and multimedia information and products.
Created on 14 October 2014, the Federation has set itself the objectives of establishing strategic partnerships and developing business relationships between press agencies. It aims to contribute to the consolidation of the free flow of information and strengthen cooperation and coordination at the level of regional and international fora.