Icefict 2014 - Ict and Our Future

8/21/2019 Icefict 2014 - Ict and Our Future

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ICEFICT 2014

ICT and our Future

Prof. Jason M. Githeko

Egerton University

12thJune 2014

Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi


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ICT and Our Future

Our constitution starts with the words:

We, the people of Kenya

ACKNOWLEDGINGthe supremacy of the Almighty God of all creation:Then it goes on to state that we are COMMITTED to nurturing and protecting

the well-being of the individual, the family, communities and the nation.

It gets even better when our national anthem states:

National Anthem of Kenya, Stanza One

[Note: Kenya, the country whose anthem is a prayer]

We have read about the path taken by the Asian Tigers (Republic of Korea,

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong and Singapore) and the Tiger Cubs

(Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand). We have read about


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economic transformation and the models of economic change by Professor

Jeffrey Sachs and others.

Source: Jeffrey D. Sachs (2004). Stages of Economic Development. Speech at

the Chinese Academy of Arts and Sciences, Beijing.

Prof. Sachs stated that the countries with highest income are all now

knowledge economies; they are very much driven by innovation, which is in

turn driven by a high input of science and technology. Based on this model, it

is arguable if we have made it to the commercial level. Too many citizens are

economically isolated. In some parts of northern and north-eastern Kenya,

when you visit they ask how is Kenya. They do not feel like a part of Kenya.

What will it take to transform into commercial, industrial and to knowledge-

based economy? It is as though we simultaneously exist in different modes.

While we are in the midst of infrastructural transformation building air and sea

ports, railroads, roads, pipelines and security systems and building Konza

Technology City, citizens still kill each other over a banana or mango. The so-called common man is still in dire straits.One political commentator was

heard criticizing a former president saying that his economics were great but

his politics was rotten.


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How can our society move forward when 40% of employable citizens are

unemployed? When a good portion of Kenyans live on less than 200 shillings a

day? A young man who was a plant mechanic trained by NYS turned up at my

office one day and asked for help getting a job. Among other things, Bush (his

nickname) was an evangelist and a karate black belt. He eventually ended up

in Nairobi working as a watchman and living in Kangemi. He gave me a report

of his budget and showed me why he could not afford to ride public transport

vehicles to work. Eventually, he started stealing from his employer. He

abandoned his wife in Nakuru and took on another woman in Nairobi. One

time he was arrested and placed in remand. While there, he got ill. The next

time I saw Bush, he looked like a ghost. A few months later, his brother called

and said Bush ameaga (he has passed on). That is the tragedy of poverty. A

plant mechanic in which the nation had invested in training at NYS never got

to utilise his skills. He is dead at a young age. This man was not counted

among the 40% unemployed. He had a job as a security officer in the private

sector but he was still living in poverty.

Social-Economic and Spiritual ContextSeveral years ago I was active in the Kenya Red Cross. We would visit

disaster sites and ask people about their needs. The number one need was

invariably jobs (implies basic needs of food, housing, clothes). Number two was

security. Others such as education, health, infrastructure and water would

follow.

These needs have not changed that much for the bottom 50% of the Kenyan

population. Apart from teaching in a university, I work as a pastor in a village

church and encounter the stark realities of life that these people face dairy.

Who will provide the jobs for them? Does the insecurity we see in this country


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have anything to do with unemployment? I heard the governor of Wajir saying

that, because of unemployment, the terrorist groups can attract the youth in

Wajir with only US$500. Some years ago in Bahati Nakuru, the elders in that

community explained to us how the link between poverty and crime is

established. Idle youth get recruited into the local illicit alcohol dens and spend

their time drinking the local brews. The places are training academies for

crime. Soon, the youth start mugging and robbery to support their drinking

habits. Many are pressured to join militia, organised crime gangs and even

terrorist groups. A country in this condition cannot be said to be at peace.

To add insult to the injury of poverty there is the bitterness in the

knowledge that across town are people who spend on their meals in one day

what the poor earn in a month. The privileged class is very visible. You cant

miss the Prados and the mansions in Runda and Karen. Just drive on the

northern or southern bypass. Pseudo-religious doctrine provides the framework

to congregate such people. It is the chassis, the framework. Depravation is the

prime mover, the engine. Bitterness is the fuel. A deadly vehicle is being

constructed. The world is littered with hostile groups formed in this manner

from the Uighurs in China to FARC in Columbia.

What is strange is their philosophical and spiritual similarity, their radical

message and the stark contrast between the privileged elite who can afford to

have lunch at hotel like this one (Safari Park ) and those who need help to deal

with jiggers. They kill each other over a banana or mango. There was the story


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a few days ago where a man killed his step son over a banana. For

5,000shillings hungry and angry young men can be hired to throw grenades.

When you dont have 10shillingsfor a banana and you are desperately hungry,

KES5,000 is a fortune.

The ticking time bomb may be invisible to those who live in the better parts

of town. Do you not see the smoke across the valley? Do you not hear the

rumblings of thunder in the distance? Did you not feel the tremor, the

Teremoto(earthquake)? If you read the recent story of the Nakuru doctor whose

head was blown away as he attempted to drive through the gate of his

apartment; that man was my neighbour. This earthquake is that close.

School on A109 [2005]


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School in Kwale

Future Wangari Mathais, Kwale

Before the 2013 elections, we came to hear rumours about the thousands of

guns that had been prepared for a war. If February 24that Uhuru Park had not

happened, we would be looking at a different Kenya today. Perhaps it would

look like Syria or Libya by now. Thank God that things did not fall apart.


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This is the context, the canvas, onto which we paint Konza City, iHub,

Nailab, iLab and so on. We are hard at work laying fibre optic cables and

setting up Wifi hotspots. Nakuru was supposed to be the third town in Africa to

have free Wifi and the 16thglobally. It is very impressive. But who is the Wifi

society? The Faiba society? Do you know there is a Kerosine society too. The

Unga na Mbogasociety? I have not heard of the iHub in Mukuru kwa Njenga.

Will we treat the patients heart problems and ignore their feet? How will you

walk if you have a great heart but rotten legs?

Jigger Menace: rotten legs?

There is a spiritual distress in our society brought by hopelessness. We have

many who are neglected, abandoned, ignored even abused. Their children die


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from lack of advice and resources. They die of malaria, pneumonia, typhoid,

and diarrhoea. They die of frustration. Driven to drinking and to prostitution, it

leads to recklessness and HIV/AIDS.

One young woman narrated how she had been mistreated by her pastor who

tried to sexually molest her. She said: We have no fathers. It took me quite

some time to understand what she meant. She meant that our society has

become predatory. Many of our leaders in society are perpetrators. You read

reports of pastors in prostitution, adultery, witchcraft and incest. Such reports

are not good news but they are real and extant. I am sorry to spoil your

morning but its essential to find out whats in the bush ahead before you

enter. It could be a lone bull buffalo and you would really regret having been

hotfooted and headlong in your walk. Headlong, hotfooted and pell-mell is not

an acceptable way to move forward. Let our development calculus include the

Stem People, the 60% at the bottom of our economic ladder.

If I had an opportunity to redefine peace, I would say it is a bush with no

bull buffaloes and no puff udders. No rhinos and hyenas. It is a society in

which each one has her loaf of bread and 100m2of private space. No one is

naked. No one is bitter and angry because society has forgotten and abandoned

him.


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Way Forward

So we need fathers. A father is the person who cares. Its not about gender.

It is that person who is concerned. Who guides, who supports, teaches,

encourages even rebukes. The father is the source of hope and security. A

father is the water to the wilted plant; the sunshine, the fertile soil. When these

things are right, the seed will geminate and flourish. The nation will soar and

climb.

I make a case for the so-called down-trodden. We cant be leaders unless we

have ratified the message of Mathew 25 that says:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you

gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed

clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison

and you came to visit me.'

It means that whatever we do, we must not lose sight of the weak in our

society. Every plan must account for this 60% who cannot manage on their

own. Let us make it our business to sort out what they will eat, where they will

live, what they will wear and how they will graduate from chronically

dependent into independence.


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The Champagne Glass

If these fundamentals are missing from our plans and visions we are day

dreamers building our own nirvanas and consumed by a form of drunkenness.

The name on the bottle is Fantasy. It doesnt go down well. By the time it

reaches your stomach, your oesophagus will be on fire. You will need G4S for

sure. They hire out fire engines.

The downtrodden are not in this room but they are round the corner. We

need to give them hope that they can lift themselves out of poverty; that their

children can graduate from college; that it is not hopeless. It means that

agriculture and industry must happen in order to create sustainable jobs and

affordable food.

If ICT is to be a lifeline for this nation, it needs to be the solution to

employment and to security, to education and health for the populace. ICT has


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to become relevant to the form four leaver with a D+ and virtually zero skills, to

the farmer who harvests only seven bags of maize per acre when 100 bags is

possible. To the single mother whose baby died because she has never heard of

oral rehydration. To a government that struggles to control public service

vehicles yet the tools to automate the task are right there before our eyes.

The global arena is no partitioned. There is no corner for the poor and

another for the wealthy. We must compete with China, with Singapore,

Republic of Korea, Japan, Germany, UK, USA, Canada, Brazil, Russia and

India. Can ICT help us win this competition?

A Competitive Knowledge Economy

We have talked and discussed and dialogued about the information

economy and the information society and the digital age for a decade. But what

are the ingredients of a competitive global economy? How do we play in the

global arena without sufficient appreciation about each of the 200 or so

countries that constitute the global community? I have not heard of an

institute of South American Studies or an Africa-Asia Institute or the African

Academy for European Studies. How will we get to know them? They know us

very well. They have been studying us for centuries.

We need vast improvement in our scientific and technological prowess. It

means we must set up first rate education and training. We need a system of

technology labs. Do we have a single national lab for example in semiconductor


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physics and electronics? Do we have national technology labs focused on

innovation like the MIT Media Lab or PARC or Intel or IBM Research? Do we

prepare our youth to innovate? Are we aware of the prerequisites for 21st

century innovation? Are we innovation-ready? I have seen a number of surveys

on e-readiness in Kenya but only one innovation readiness survey.

Interesting Statistics

Balance of paymentsSource: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ based on World Bank data


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GNP Per Capita

(USD)

Life Expectancy

at Birth

Country 1960 2012Size

(km2)

Population

(Millions) MaleFemale

Singapore 395 51,709 716 5.3 73 77

Taiwan 1256 31,900 36,193 23.3 77 83

Hong Kong 429 52,300 1,104 7.1 79 85

Republic of

Korea

155 22,590 99,720 48.0 76 83

Kenya 98 1,700 580,367 45.0 62 65

Comparison between Kenya and Asian Tigers based on selected indicators

Source: World Bank and others

GNP per capita (1960)Source: World Bank

0

200400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

395

1256

429

15598


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GNP per capita (2012)

Source: World Bank

Contribution to Employment (%) GDP Contribution (%)

Agriculture 75 29

Industry + Services 25 71

Employment sources versus GPP contributionSource: Kenya Bureau of Statistics

-

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000 51,709

31,900

52,300

22,590

1,700


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Patent applications for 2010Source: WIPO IP Facts and Figures 2012

Country Number of Applications

Singapore 9,685

Republic of Korea 188,915

Kenya 259

Patent applications for 2013Source: WIPO


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Africa competitiveness report


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Global Educational Performance Ranking

Source: The Center on International Education Benchmarking (CIEB).Statistic of the Month: Measures of Education Quality in the 2013 WorldEconomic Forum Global Competitiveness Rankings

Look at the typical innovation cycle in Kenya. While teaching at the Kenya

Polytechnic (now the Kenya Technical University) I observed many interesting

student projects. One of my students attempted to build a CNC drilling

machine. The Kenya National Examinations Council awarded the poor fellow

and Fgrade because they believed he copied the idea from somewhere. He

was very, verydiscouraged. Several other students build wonderful prototypes


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and stopped at that. It is still the fashion to demonstrate prototypes. They

regularly show the good people on TV demonstrating these prototypes.

There was another interesting one in my home village when I was a young

boy. A gentleman called Mr. Gachamba built an aeroplane using a VW or

scooter engine. It is said that he was arrested and locked up charged with two

crimes: One was that he flew an aircraft without a pilots licence, the second

that he damaged property by landing on a neighbours chicken. I do not think

the story of his arrest is true. What is true is that he was discussed in

parliament and an appeal made by Honourable Mark Mwithaga, then an

Assistant Minister for Tourism, for help to be extended to Mr. Gichamba but

the appeal fell on deaf years. We are talking about the 1970s. Has anything

changed? Do we now have an innovation system that provides structured

support to such innovators?

Gachambas Kenya 2


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Source: http://www.nyerionline.com/gachaba-just-one-more-time/

There has been a number of efforts to develop innovation centres. There is

iHub, and iLab and Nailab. I saw something called the National ICT Integration

and Innovation Centre (NI3C) being opened at the Nairobi University's Kenya

Science Campus along Ngong Road. Are these enough? Can they create the

jobs we need? Can they generate the foreign exchange we desire?

Innovation cannot be about building prototypes but needs to be about

developing products for the market wherever it may be. Its about creating

wealth. Indeed, according to Peter Drucker in his Discipline of Innovation,

innovation is more about systematic search and development than a result of

strokes of genius. There are many strokes of genius but systematic

development is far more productive. Real innovation does not end at prototypes

and proof of concept but proceeds to manufacturing plans and their execution,

to distribution channels and supply chains, to marketing plans and their

implementation, to brand building and management, to customer relations and

management and continuous R & D to ensure one remains ahead. All these

cost money so finance needs to be part of the mix. I recall the manufacturers of

the locally designed digital speed governor reporting that they needed

KES12million to start commercial production.


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Innovation Process

Source: http://www.bcit.ca/appliedresearch/arlo/commercialization/process.shtml

Look at the Noris Kaboo, the Kenyan tablet, and the locally designed digital

speed governor. In each case they went out to China to manufacture. How

many potential jobs were lost? Many will say we have no capacity to

manufacture such products. How did the Chinese acquire the capability? Can

we not do the same. How will ICT create massive employment without

manufacturing? If we had not given up on the Nyayo Pioneer, Kenya would

have a car by now. In the 1970s, Hyundai Motor Company was synonymous

with low quality. They were not regarded very highly. When Hon. G. G. Kariuki

started importing the Pony into Kenya; people laughed at the Pony. Hyundai

did not develop their own engine until 1991, 24 years after launching the

company. But in 2004, Hyundai was ranked second globally in "initial quality".

Today, they are giving the Japanese a run for their money.


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We should not start off by exporting jobs to China. America and Europe did

that and look where it got them. If you outsource all manufacturing where will

Wanjiku work? Where will Otieno and Kiserian get decent jobs? I doubt that

writing mobile applications can provide these jobs. Software development is not

a common mans occupation. It is elitist. You need higher education to make

headway in the software business. We have 40% unemployment and perhaps

many of those employed are underemployed.

Therefore, let us remember the Champagne Glass. The stem is very skinny,

but it supports the bowl.The lower 60% of the worlds population has less than

6% of income while the top 20% has more than 82% of income.


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Champagne Glass

These 60% are the ones you read about in Kiserian. They are the Stem

people. Every five years they become cannon fodder for a few politicians. They

are the ones shooting one another in Suguta valley, in Lorokon and in Gulan.

They say Kiserian means peace. Is it not ironic that the place called peace is a

mass grave? Kenyans are fighting over a slice of bread. If they each had a loaf,

the war would end. We must give them a loaf and a roof. Does Konza have a

loaf and a roof for our Stem people? Even God will be please when we do this

deed.

The nation is like a long train in the station. It is fully loaded, therefore, it

needs a powerful engine to get it moving. In Asia among the Tigers, they

invested very heavily in infrastructure. Weve only just started.They put in

place serious education. We are still trying to set up free primary education. Its


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not world class but it must become so for this train to move. The Koreans and

the Taiwanese and Singaporeans pursued technology with intense passion.

They established R&D science parks. But they also had peace. Like Solomon

after his fathers death, they were able to build their empire because they had

peace.

ICT

In the 1970s, boys in Kibera could make crystal radios. They needed only

five components and mounted these on an oldpata pataslipper. Where are

they now? Where did they go when they grew up? Where are their electronics

factories?

Who will show us how to make our own radios? And our own cars? Should

we not retrieve the dream of the Nyayo Pioneer and finish the project? Where

are the people who build the Pioneer? They are still around. I knew some of

them. One of them chaired the ICT Board. She was doing market research for

the Nyayo Pioneer. Can we find them and help them complete what they

started?


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Hyudai Pony 1975

Nyayo Pioneer 1, February 1990

It takes decades of labour and sweat to develop home-grown technology.

Like bringing up a child, its a long term endeavour. It is not a job for the fickle

and faint-hearted. We gave up the task after barely two years. The baby was

still in diapers.


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Hyundai Santa Fe 2014

A professor friend of mine was complaining the other day about a fellow in

Naivasha who had developed a crude aircraft which could not fly. The professor

derided the poor fellow and called him names. I asked him, Prof. you are busy

calling this fellow foolish, what have you ever built? These foolishones are

the ones we need.

Let us become a people who can effortlessly bring forth new ideas and new

products. Fresh ideas, revolutionary products. The brand called Kenya is till

akin to a seed in the soil waiting for the rain. It needs to germinate and grow

into a mighty tree. It must do that for us to survive and flourish.

I believe that Kenya knows how to do this. God gave us our portion of every

good thing. The future scientists and engineers are among us but who will

discover them? Who will nurture them? Who will provide them with a first rate


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education and training? Who will support them as they pursue their dreams?

To reposition this country in the global arena from a place near the tail, to one

near the head?

We must critically examine our educational system, facilities, and

leadership. Universities need to transform from being glorified high schools and

degree mills into centres of innovation and leadership. They must become the

solution providers not the problem generators. Talent needs to be recognised

and nurtured irrespective of social standing.

Barack Obama was not wealthy growing up but opportunity was provided to

help him rise up to the pinnacle of American and global society. We need

opportunities of this kind in Kenya. Let there be Bangalores here. Let there be

Shanghai and Taipei and MIT. We have the raw material but we havent set up

the manufacturing.

Properly directed, a big ICT-based manufacturing and software industry can

be built. But, like the push for rugby in secondary school, ICT needs to move to

secondary schools as well. Electronics can be taught in high school. Instead of

teaching computer studies to students in high school, those of them who

have the aptitude need to be exposed to software innovation. There is too much

theory and too little problem-solving in our higher education system. We could

be training executives instead of engineers. If we go the route of problem-

solving with science and technology, innovation will flow effortlessly.

Agricultural productivity and marketing, security in all its facets, health,


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education, entrepreneurship; all of these can greatly be improved through

smart use of what has become commonplace technology such as the

smartphone. I hope that soon we will have an African smartphone whose

design is optimised to provide a platform for solving our problems.

Government has shown great seriousness with the investment in

infrastructure and now with KES70 billion set aside for science, technology and

innovation. All we need is to get going without forgetting to carry along the

people of the Stem because if we dont, peace may never be achieved and

prosperity may never happen.

ICT is our answer today.

God is our eternal compass.

I believe Kenya can succeed.

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Icefict 2014 - Ict and Our Future