By Mulengera ReportersUganda’s digital innovation agenda has received a major international boost after the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)-implemented E-Booster Programme won the Digital Applications & Innovation Award at the CTO Digital Excellence Awards 2026.The recognition puts Uganda’s efforts to move beyond basic connectivity and promote meaningful digital participation in the spotlight, highlighting how public investment can help local enterprises develop solutions that respond to real challenges in underserved and unserved communities.Implemented by UCC under the leadership of Hon. George William Nyombi Thembo through the Uganda Communications Universal Service and Access Fund (UCUSAF), E-Booster was launched in 2022 with incubation and mentorship support from Makerere University Business School (MUBS).The programme is built around a straightforward proposition namely that: connecting people to the internet is only the beginning. The greater challenge is ensuring that communities can use that connectivity to access services, participate in markets, create businesses and improve their livelihoods.Turning connectivity into opportunityFor years, the digital divide has largely been viewed through the lens of access to telecommunications infrastructure. Governments and development partners have invested heavily in broadband networks and other infrastructure to extend connectivity to underserved populations.But access alone does not automatically translate into digital participation.Uganda’s own experience illustrates the distinction. According to the UCUSAF IV Strategic Plan, broadband coverage had reached approximately 81 per cent by the end of the previous strategic cycle, while broadband penetration stood at about 26 per cent.The gap highlights the importance of factors such as affordability, digital skills, accessibility and the availability of relevant applications.It is within this space that E-Booster has sought to make a difference.Rather than focusing solely on identifying new ideas, the programme supports established Ugandan enterprises to refine, commercialise and deploy digital solutions designed to address practical challenges facing underserved communities.Through competitive selection, coaching, mentorship, business-model development and catalytic grants, E-Booster helps participating businesses overcome some of the barriers that can prevent promising digital products from reaching the people who need them.The model combines public purpose with private-sector innovation, while allowing participating enterprises to remain responsible for developing useful products, attracting customers and building sustainable businesses.Innovation with people at the centreThe impact of the programme is reflected in the range of solutions it has supported.Across its first two cohorts, E-Booster has supported 11 digital businesses and platforms, with a reported combined direct and indirect reach of more than 10,000 people.In agriculture, platforms such as Farmsell and FeastFarm have enabled more than 200 farmers to access markets and services, including agricultural inputs, labour and equipment.For farmers who may struggle to find reliable buyers or access essential services, such platforms provide digital channels through which they can participate more effectively in agricultural markets.The programme has also supported innovations in financial inclusion, with digital tools reaching savings groups and fishing communities.In healthcare, the MedX initiative demonstrates how locally developed technology can contribute to the digitisation of medical records.For persons with disabilities, the Blind Assistant application has been used by visually impaired learners in three inclusive primary schools, showing how locally developed technology can address specific accessibility challenges.The diversity of these applications is central to E-Booster’s approach: digital innovation is most valuable when it responds to the actual circumstances of the communities it is intended to serve.A different approach to universal accessThe E-Booster model also reflects a broader evolution in how universal access programmes can contribute to digital development.Traditionally, universal service funds have been closely associated with extending telecommunications infrastructure to areas where commercial investment may be limited.E-Booster adds another dimension by supporting the development and deployment of applications and services that can encourage people to adopt and use connectivity.Its approach aligns with the four priorities outlined in Uganda’s UCUSAF IV Strategic Plan: Access, Adoption and Usage, Value Creation, and Cooperation.This brings together infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship rather than treating them as separate elements of the digital economy.For local enterprises, public support can help reduce the initial commercial risks associated with serving markets where returns may be uncertain or take longer to materialise.For communities, the objective is to ensure that connectivity delivers tangible benefits.Lessons beyond UgandaThe programme’s recognition comes as Uganda seeks re-election to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council for the 2027–2030 cycle.The ITU Council plays a central role in the governance of the Union, including overseeing its activities between Plenipotentiary Conferences and facilitating implementation of its policies and strategies.E-Booster and Uganda’s ITU Council bid are separate matters. However, the programme provides a concrete example of Uganda’s domestic experience in advancing digital inclusion.Its combination of universal access financing, local entrepreneurship, academic support and private-sector delivery offers experience that can contribute to international discussions on digital inclusion, innovation financing and the commercialisation of locally developed applications.The model could also hold lessons for other African and Commonwealth countries facing similar challenges: expanding connectivity while ensuring that people have the skills, services and applications needed to make meaningful use of it.The work continues after the awardFor UCC and the enterprises participating in E-Booster, the international recognition represents an important milestone, but the programme’s longer-term value will ultimately depend on sustained results.Supported businesses will need to continue improving their products, serving customers and developing viable business models.Thembo, meanwhile, will need to maintain strong monitoring and document the experiences of beneficiaries and participating enterprises so that lessons from successive cohorts can strengthen future interventions.This is particularly important because reported reach and adoption provide only part of the picture. Sustained impact will also depend on whether users continue benefiting from the services and whether supported enterprises remain commercially viable over time.The broader significance of E-Booster lies in the relationship it creates between connectivity and opportunity.A telecommunications network can bring internet access to a village. A digital application can then help a farmer find a market, enable a business to reach new customers, improve access to healthcare or help a learner overcome an accessibility barrier.Both investments matter.Uganda’s E-Booster experience shows how the two can work together—using connectivity as a foundation while empowering local enterprises to build the digital services that turn access into practical value.The CTO Digital Excellence Awards 2026 recognition therefore places the spotlight not only on an award-winning programme, but on a distinctly Ugandan effort to ensure that digital transformation reaches beyond networks and into the everyday lives and economic activities of the people those networks are intended to serve.