The point - we need to move beyond “talk” to have an organizing framework that will make things happen BIG and at a practical level so as to move the innovation wheel forward for profound change in the country.
This army of young innovators needs to be mobilized (within a clear strategic framework) as a core foundation of the national innovation system in the country, if we are to make meaningful progress!
Edith
From: Andrea Bohnstedt [mailto:andrea.bohnstedt@ratio-magazine.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 1:47 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Standing on the shoulders of giants
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, 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@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@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=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@aganoconsulting.com> wrote:
Congratulations are in order for these young girls in the above story; 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.
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Matunda Nyanchama, mnyanchama@aganoconsulting.com
Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com
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“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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