Early last week, Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) staged the launch of an innovator’s hub dubbed Konza Innovation Ecosystem. The official announcement was done at the upcoming technology city’s base offices and was graced by the presence of key partners including Chinese technology equipment manufacturer Huawei, lender KCB, and telco Safaricom.
The conference served many purposes such as reiterating Konza’s primary clusters, namely ICT & Information Technology Enabled Services (ICT/ITES), Life Sciences and engineering, the mandate to push for smart urban planning, as well as building knowledge-intensive environment for communities that aim to expand opportunities for future generations.
What is more, the forum stakeholders in the government and private institutions are planning to discuss innovation challenges in the country.
It should be noted that the forum preceded a two-day STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Bootcamp for young innovators aged between 7 and 15 years. The theme of the training program was Be Tomorrow’s Innovator. It was concluded on 7th December with more than 30 participants from Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado Counties. The bootstrap is one of the government’s approaches to encourage innovation at a young age.
The program focused on robotics concepts and simple programming principles. Moreover, the Konza Technopolis-sponsored boot camp encouraged the development of critical thinking and teamwork in tackling challenges and projects. Young innovators who pitched remarkable ideas were recognized and awarded by a panel of judges.
Finally, the Konza Innovation Ecosystem Forum targets to attract the startup community and private sector to illustrate progress made toward achieving the Konza dream that could be actualized by 2030.
