Empowering Liberia’s Digital Future: The Story of Foldestine Paye, Technologist and Cyber Rights Activists.
Foldestine Paye is an impressive young Liberian. He is positive role model for youth, a humble yet progressive influencer, and undoubtedly a future leader of Liberia. Moreover, he is lead digital advocate fighting for Liberia to become digital.
Foldestine is a technologist, researcher and a cybersecurity expert. He is passionate about open source solutions, Internet policy, online safety and public interest technology. He has a great understanding of cybersecurity and how Liberia is vulnerable in the cyberspace as the country expands out its network. He is a good communicator and listener and always ready to share examples of Liberia’s vulnerabilities. A top-ranked IT student, Foldestine was President of the Liberia Information Technology Student Union (LITSU) and studied Software Engineering (major) and Ethical Hacking and cybersecurity (minor) at BlueCrest University. He led the systems team at BlueCrest as the Head of Systems and was a Web & eLearning Administrator before that.
Foldestine has also worked on an Internet measurements project focusing on broadband performance, Internet peering and users’ behavior in Africa. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Society Liberia Chapter. He also the focal person for YouthIGF Liberia. In addition, he is an alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Program – On promoting Cyber Security. He is collaborative and is presently part of the Technical Team that is creating the national cyber security policy and strategy of Liberia. Foldestine has solid knowledge in cybersecurity fundamentals, networking and software engineering, and is a certified Microsoft Technology Associate software designer. He is a Digital and Internet rights activist with a passion of becoming Liberia’s first cyber lawyer to protect the people of Liberia from cyber criminals and crimes. He has authored a new book entitled “Be A Good Digital Citizen” to educate the public on protecting themselves on the internet.
When COVID-19 hit, Foldestine led a Tech innovation team to develop a COVID-19 web application to provide real time information about the virus in Liberia to fight COVID-19 fake news and rumors. He was also tapped to lead a team to develop a contact tracing application for the COVID-19 response.
He also worked with the Chief Information Office (CIO) Bureau of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications as a cybersecurity analyst. In this position, he coordinates and ensures the
implementation of the e-government components of the adapted ICT policy across government, manages the second level domain (.gov.lr), government network, sets standards for ICT within government, develops legal and institutional frameworks, database utilities and automated reporting systems, ensures and evaluates compliance, and implements capacity building for employees within the Ministries Agency and Commissions (MAC).
Presently, He is the software Engineer of the West Africa Examination Council Liberia.
Below are a few, recent news articles and editorials, including two regarding COVID-19:
Increased Investment in Technology can be Used to Reduce Corruption in Liberia, Frontpage Africa, 2020
https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/tech/increased-investment-in-technology-can-reduce corruption-in-liberia/
Integrate Technology in The Reformation of Liberia’s Education System: A Call to the Pro Poor Government of Liberia, Frontpage Africa, 2020
https://frontpageafricaonline.com/uncategorized/integrate-technology-in-the-reformation-of-liberias education-system-a-call-to-the-pro-poor-government-of-liberia/
Coronavirus Internet Scam is in Liberia: How to Protect Yourself Against COVID-19 Internet Scam, Frontpage Africa, 2020
https://frontpageafricaonline.com/opinion/letters-comments/coronavirus-internet-scam-is-in-liberia how-to-protect-yourself-against-covid-19-internet-scam/
COVID-19 Spread through Physical Contact, Not Radio Waves, Techhealth, 2019 https://techealth.info/covid-19-spread-through-physical-contact-not-radio-waves/ Can Liberia Be Developed in the Absence of Technology in This 21st Century?, Liberian Observer, 2019
https://www.liberianobserver.com/opinion/can-liberia-be-developed-in-the-absence-of-technology-in this-21st-century/