For the better part of 2018, the Kenyan government and the Ministry of ICT have been in the process of creating a platform or an incubation hub to support innovation and the communication of ideas that can be applied to boost government service delivery. Dubbed ‘White Box’, the platform was conceptualized as a forum for professionals such as academicians, lawyers, techies, and innovators, among other intellectuals, to share ideas and drive conversations that can be pursued to offer solutions for local problems.
Another motivation for White Box is the need by the government to centralize procurement of IT solutions, as well the ever-increasing number of Kenyan-based IT innovations, which, according to the government, can be taken advantage of in delivering its agenda.
According to the ICT and Innovation CS Joe Mucheru, White Box targets to link these groups of people, and create a space where they can gather and brainstorm ideas and innovations that can be tested by experts in the government. If feasible, the ideas can then be absorbed in whichever sector they purposes to serve.
As of early this week, we understand that the platform, which can be accessed here, had gone live.
Other than the aforementioned services, White Box aims to offer courses for entrepreneurs and execute projects that can be commercialized.
The people behind the platform have been involved in a lot of behind-the-scenes activities such as getting the right space for the platform.
The budget of the platform has not been made public as of this writing.
Additional details such as how the hub works, the services it offers (facilities, technical assistance, financial support, access to market, link to investors, as well as incubation and acceleration) are highlighted on the site, whose partners include The Communications Authority of Kenya, ICT Authority, iHub, The Ministry of ICT and Posta Kenya, among many others.
