[kictanet] Kenya's Silicon Savannah & the Need to do more

Tue Feb 24 21:07:34 EAT 2015

Hi Dr. Nyanchama,

The article helps in assembling a set of key considerations moving forward
for the sector. On *Research and Development *(R&D), since we don't have
many large native IT corporations that would afford the requisite R&D
budgets, would you recommend that we treat innovation and entrepreneurship
among thousands of startups as a democratized R&D division for the sector?

Also, does it help to classify enterprises in the sector so as to develop
targeted interventions? See my proposed taxonomy
<http://www.slideshare.net/JohnKieti/taxonomy-of-it-enterprises-in-kenya-and-their-undeveloped-growth-interventions-aitec-presentation-feb-2015>
and abstraction of undeveloped interventions shared last week at AITEC.

Best regards

On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 7:13 PM, Matunda Nyanchama via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Friends,
>
> The MoICT and ICT Authority are planning a 2-Day ICT Innovation Forum on
> the 2nd and 3rd of March, 2015. See details on the ICT Authority website)
> <http://www.icta.go.ke/event/national-ict-innovation-forum/>
>
> I offered (and the Technical Committee organizing the Forum agreed) that I
> do 2 Op-ed pieces on the subject as a lead up to the Forum.
>
> Business News >> Kenya as Silicon Savannah - The need to do more!
> <http://www.aganoconsulting.com/businessnews/archives/240>; I will be
> posting the second piece in the next day or so.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Business News >> Kenya as Silicon Savannah - The need to do more!
> <http://www.aganoconsulting.com/businessnews/archives/240>
> Business News - Reading is FunDamental
> View on www.aganoconsulting.com
> <http://www.aganoconsulting.com/businessnews/archives/240>
> Preview by Yahoo
>
>
>  Kenya as Silicon Savannah - The need to do more!
> by Matunda Nyanchama*
> February 22, 2015
>
> The *National ICT Innovation Forum,*
> <http://www.icta.go.ke/event/national-ict-innovation-forum/> convened by
> the Ministry of Information Communications and Technology and ICT
> Authority, is slated for March 2rd and 3rd, at the Kenyatta International
> Conference Centre (KICC). Its theme is *Silicon Savannah! Mind the Gap!
> Close the Gap!*
>
>  Participants are expected to tackle challenges pertaining to ICT
> innovation in the country and the way forward to ensure ICT innovation
> thrives in Kenya. Industry stakeholders are agreed: our ICT sector has
> reached a tipping point: no longer just a sexy idea, but an industry that
> is creating lasting change and impact.
> One may ask why the theme: *Silicon Savannah! Mind the Gap! Close the
> Gap!*?
>
> The media coinage, *Silicon Savannah,* has become near-synonymous with
> Kenya's technology sector. The words carry a subliminal play with America's
> Silicon Valley, home of many global technology giants such as Apple,
> Google, Oracle and many others.
>
> As a country, we offer a series of advantages to claim the Silicon
> Savannah brand. These include boasting a large number of academic
> institutions offering ICT programmes; taught in English, the global
> business language, steering our next generation of leaders; our laws and
> regulations, favouring free market economics and more. This is in addition
> to Kenya being the region's economic powerhouse despite lacking in
> resources (oil, minerals, etc.) that have been the curse of many African
> nations.
>
> The Silicon Savannah label didn't come by accident. A lot of time and
> effort has been invested in promoting the country as a technology
> destination. Under a triumvirate of the Ministry of Information of
> Communications and Technology, the ICT Authority and Brand Kenya, the
> nation's image as a leader in the technology sector has continued to rise.
>
> And the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Kenya's image, as a leader
> in innovations, is well-known. One case in point is M-Pesa that stands out
> to become a global brand in electronic money transfer. The Konza Technology
> City plans, if well-executed, would further buttress the Silicon Savannah
> brand. In addition, there is a lot more in the works with the vibrant
> activities happening in incubation hubs, university ICT departments,
> government, and the private sector. The future is bright; the future is IT.
>
> With Government and the private sector working in tandem, the Silicon
> Savannah brand value can only grow. Others would claim that we have a huge
> gap between that brand promise and where we are. In spite of the
> achievements to date, serious work needs to be done to fully realize the
> benefits of that gilded metaphor.
>
> There is a need to accelerate the pace of the sector's growth via
> deliberate efforts, plans, actions and performance monitoring. These
> efforts must tap into the amount of energy devoted to innovation in order
> to harness its full potential. The approach should result in a well-oiled
> innovation ecosystem that would deliver the promise.
>
> A thriving innovation ecosystem needs key components synergistically
> working towards a common goal: exponential ICT growth that has
> wide-ranging, knock-on benefits. Key among these are the laws, regulations
> and policies; access to knowledge and expertise; access to capital; ongoing
> research and development; deliberate promotion of the sector's products and
> services; and a vibrant network of incubation hubs with clear tentacles to
> the market, academia and financiers.
>
> *Laws, Regulations and Policies & Promotion of Kenya ICT Products &
> Services*
> The public sector, including national and county governments, public
> agencies and state corporations, are major consumers of ICT products and
> services. The national ICT spending across the public sector could be in
> the range of hundreds of billions of Shillings. Now, suppose Government
> regulations and policies required that we give priority to the local ICT
> sector, driving innovation at home. This would assure a ready market for
> Kenyan ICT products and services; the resultant process would create jobs,
> build local ICT capacity and provide a springboard towards regional and
> international growth for the sector.
>
> There is more.
>
> With the recognition of the significance of the ICT sector, Government
> could make deliberate effort to promote the sector abroad. It is key to
> include ICT sector representation in international trade fairs and
> promotions the country participates in. In part, it would help the sector's
> targeted contribution of 8% GDP and 180,000 jobs by 2017.
>
> *Knowledge and Expertise *
> In recent years, Kenya has seen a substantial growth of institutions:
> universities are expanding both in student population and in programmes
> offered. This is the good news.
>
> The bad news is that higher learning in Kenya appears to be more of the
> business of education than the quality of the programmes and relevance to
> the market. There is a disconnect between what we are teaching and the
> needs of local industry, such that universities stand accused of a failure
> to proactively tune their programmes to market needs. The term "yellow
> notes" has been mentioned in relation to use of the same material from year
> to year by some lecturers and professors, caring less for the dynamic
> nature of knowledge.
>
> ICT education and knowledge is a fast-paced affair. Knowledge and its
> packaging evolves rapidly, as do the delivery modes. Academic institutions
> must keep up with these changes if their graduates, especially in ICT - a
> key pillar to the President's Digital Promise - have to find relevance in
> the market.
>
> There is more. There are few institutions with focus on bridging gaps
> between what is learnt in universities and what the market needs. Further,
> as a relatively young (e.g. compared with engineering) discipline the
> sector does not have a clearly defined professional path for growth.
>
> Nonetheless, the need for programmes that bridge gaps between academic
> qualifications and practical industry needs has never been greater. There
> are yawning gaps in this space. Indeed, it is this realization that
> resulted in the establishment the recently launched Presidential Digital
> Talent Programme to address government ICT needs.
> Sadly, there is still more bad news.
>
> As we celebrate the mushrooming of universities we appear to have
> forgotten the key role played by tertiary and vocational training
> institution. Our universities appear to have grown at the expense of
> polytechnics and, in the process, left a gap in human capital development.
>
> Finally, considering that ICT is expected to play a key role in economic
> growth, there is a need to ensure that ICT graduates come out of university
> equipped with even basic business knowledge, such as knowledge of
> intellectual property and how to secure it; and how to turn the
> intellectual property into a business venture, how to raise money and how
> to run an enterprise.
>
> *Access to Capital *
> According to recent private equity surveys, Kenya is missing out to its
> African neighbours, Nigeria, and South Africa. The challenges in Kenya
> include lack of innovator awareness of the varied range of sources of
> capital and the required preparedness to obtain risk capital. This has also
> been blamed on lack of viable business plans for early-stage businesses.
>
> On the other hand, most investors stake their money in tried and tested
> ventures such as in real estate; and they have poor understanding of the
> technology sector. Clearly, there is a need to address the gap via (say) a
> venture capital fund that would help start-ups go through the early stages
> of development while raising awareness on the potential for growth that the
> sector presents.
>
> *Research and Development*
> Innovation pertains to improvements (product, service, process) that
> addresses a key need. Often innovation takes ideas from different
> disciplines, combines these to realize something new. A good example is
> M-Pesa that significantly improved the movement of money using mobile phone
> and messaging.  It was an innovation that has transformed lives.
>
> In order to experiment with and test ideas, there is a need to have
> ongoing research and development. The need for collaboration and
> cooperation between the ICT sector and academic institutions, has never
> been greater. In addition, companies - public and private - need to set up
> research and development departments that would be charged with continual
> innovation.
>
> Often significant value can be realized through incremental changes via
> co-innovation, e.g. through customization and incremental change to an
> existing product, service or process.
>
> Research and development activity can be substantially enhanced through
> government incentive programmes.
>
> *The Innovation Hubs*
> A number of these exist in the country. They are run as independent
> businesses, components of businesses or academic institutions. There is no
> doubt that a lot takes place in these hubs, with respect to testing and
> incubating ideas with a view to commercialization.
>
> The need for stakeholder collaboration has never been greater. There is a
> need for greater awareness of their role and structure and value they add
> to the innovation value chain.
> ...
> The need for focus in ICT innovation has never been greater. Deliberate
> action is needed in order to create a well-oiled innovation ecosystem with
> a friendly policy and regulatory environment, aided by a supportive
> incubation ecosystem, supplied with relevant skills, fed by ongoing
> research and development, served with risk capital, and actively promoted
> nationally and globally by all.
>
> *Dr. Matunda Nyanchama is a Director and Managing Consultant at Agano
> Consulting Inc., and a Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Communications
> and Technology and can be reached at **mnyacnhama at aganoconsulting.com*
> <mnyacnhama at aganoconsulting.com>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama at aganoconsulting.com
> Agano Consulting Inc.;  www.aganoconsulting.com; Twitter: nmatunda;
> <http://twitter.com/#%21/nmatunda>Skype: okiambe
>
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-- 

John Kieti
Phone: +254-735-764242 // +254-722-764242
Twitter: @johnKieti // Skype:  jkieti
Blog: gmeltdown.com <http://www.gmeltdown.com> // LinkedIn:
ke.linkedin.com/in/*kieti*

The ordinary just won't do
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