[kictanet] Standing on the shoulders of giants

Wed Jan 12 13:47:15 EAT 2011

Hey all,

I quickly want to point out that we're not, in fact, in a complete vacuum
here:

The ICT Board has actually supported and/or organised a number of
initiatives that address just these issues, often at the IHub. One event
that I participated in as the moderator was the ICT venture capital
challenge in which eight ICT start ups pitched their ideas to a panel of VC
funds and received instant feedback. Some were good and are, I believe, in
talks to raise funds. Some weren't so good and that's normal, too :) This
was in front of an audience of techies and developers so that they would
understand what VC funds are looking for. The event had a good turnout and I
believe there were plans to do more of them.

The ICT Board gave out grants last year to both individuals and companies
for local content creation.

The IHub and the ICT Board have also hosted a bunch of events to bring in
ICT entrepreneurs to talk about their own career and track record. I recall
discussing with Kaburo that maybe a separate session or  on intellectual
property protection, writing a business plan etc would be useful.

Finally, something worth bearing in mind:

Not everyone is an entrepreneur - yet. I love all the different ideas, but
often find that many people with smart technical ideas have little
understanding of how to turn this into a business, to find the clients, to
market the product. I'd like to see more emphasis on building this capacity,
or of examples how start ups managed to acquire this knowledge (maybe by
finding the right partners with a non-tech, commercial background?).

Not everyone is an entrepreneur, period - I would actually like to see more
information on careers in the tech space, and have just nudged Roland
Omoresemi to talk about his company, Tezza
Solutions<http://softwaretestingafrica.com/>,
at the IHub to explain what a career in software testing could look like,
what the prerequisites are, whether there is any certification etc. I think
this talk will happen next week.

If anyone on this list has something similar to offer, why not contact the
ICT Board and the IHub and suggest a talk? We could also look at perhaps a
panel with four or five different companies that introduce their portfolio,
speak about career paths, and maybe use such an event as a hunting ground
for interns/prospective employees.

Happy new year,
Andrea

On 12 January 2011 12:11, Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.or.ke> wrote:

> Great thread Muthoni…you have touched the core of the problem stifling
> innovation in this country. What can be done differently to turn the 4
> brilliant Kenyans into an army of 1 million innovators?
>
>
>
> I recall the regional innovation exhibitions that Kevit et al used to host
> annually, I’m reliably informed that a database of over 1,000 innovators
> with cutting edge ideas is just lying idle…why not mobilize this group of a
> thousand brilliant minds to transform our space?
>
>
>
> Edith
>
>
>
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+eadera <kictanet-bounces%2Beadera>=idrc.or.ke@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Dorcas Muthoni
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 12, 2011 11:50 AM
> *To:* Edith Adera
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* [kictanet] Standing on the shoulders of giants
>
>
>
> Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer,
> alchemist, inventor and natural philosopher. He is often regarded as the
> most influential scientist in history and is most famous for discovering the
> Laws of Gravity.
>
> He is quoted as having said “*If I have seen further it is only by
> standing on the shoulders of giants.*”
>
> I have heard many enterprising developers say that they have interest
> working with Safaricom and other industry leaders to expand their
> innovations to a wider market. One huge setback facing such developers is
> when the giant attempts to step on the poor developers by slaming them with
> “big-boy” revenue-share agreements.
>
> Why is revenue share is so inhibitive in our market? Currently if you
> partner with Safaricom, they will take about 60% of revenues (i stand to be
> corrected as i have not signed up with them yet).
>
> Elsewhere in the world, like in Japan, 70% goes to the developer. Nokia is
> also helping local developers market their apps globally, Nokia takes 30%
> and pays out 70% to the developer.
>
> I would be happy to hear more from Safaricom on this.
>
> How can Safaricom encourage us to test our innovations in this market as
> you have done so well with M-PESA before exporting it to other countries?
>
>
> Muthoni
>
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 1:11 PM, Matunda Nyanchama <
> mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com> wrote:
>
>
> Congratulations are in order for these young girls in the above story<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Girls%20who%20created%20social%20network%20for%20farmers%20/-/1056/1085706/-/6c0qcjz/-/index.html>;
> kudos.
>
> My reading is that there are many such stories and potential successes that
> could happen. This was reinforced when I saw presentations at the most
> recent AITEC event in Nairobi. We just need the right environment and our
> tech sector will take off to even higher heights than the present trend
> suggests.
>
> Couple of things that could help:
>
>    - Protection of Intellectual Property: I marveled at the ease with
>    which those at the conference shared their creations and even creations that
>    were on the drawing board! Question: how do they know who the prying eyes
>    are in the public event? And prying eyes with deeper pockets and better
>    knowledge of the business of IT?
>    - Risk Capital: Silicon Valley wouldn't have been without risk capital?
>    RIM (that produces the blackberry), one of the most successful Canadian tech
>    creations, would not have happened without risk capital. For the longest
>    time, the latter depended on government grants, which allowed them to go
>    thru' teething stages! In Kenya, we may not have the kind money Canada has
>    thrown into R&D in form of grants. However, we can have a variation of this.
>    One possibility I have shared with friends relates to incentives, i.e. tax
>    credits, R&D Levy Fund from which companies can get back some of the money
>    invested in R&D, and even some form of "insurance" where risk capital would
>    be compensated at a given % should a venture not materialize!
>    - Active scouting of ideas for development in science fairs, tech
>    conferences, etc and investing in those that offer promise.
>
>  *Ukiona vyalea vimeundua* or words to that effect from the wisdom of the
> old.Development cannot be left to chance. It reminds of a science project we
> did in high school: powering a radio using stored energy in a wind up
> spring! We got good marks; and off we went later to university, forgot about
> it and lo! years later, someone was selling wind up radios in rural Africa!
>
> Shukrani.
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Matunda Nyanchama, mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com
> Agano Consulting Inc.;  **www.aganoconsulting.com*<http://www.aganoconsulting.com>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *
> “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then
> you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have
> an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
> * - George Bernard Shaw
>
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> --
> Muthoni
>
> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
> --------------------------------------------
> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
>
> First they ignore you,
> Then they laugh at you,
> Then they fight you,
> AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
>
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