[AfrICANN-discuss] Kenya becomes the first African beneficiary of IBM research lab

Tue Aug 14 15:14:24 SAST 2012

Congrat for Kenya and hope for the african community!

Balbine Manga

________________________________
 De : Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
À : africann at afrinic.net 
Envoyé le : Lundi 13 août 2012 15h24
Objet : [AfrICANN-discuss] Kenya becomes the first African beneficiary of IBM research lab

FYI - sorry for cross-posting... It's just that I am so excited!

  Brian Munyao Longwe

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---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Paul Kukubo <pkukubo at ict.go.ke>Date: Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 3:43 PMSubject: [Skunkworks] Kenya becomes the first African beneficiary of IBM research lab To: ke users <ke-internetusers at bdix.net>, Skunkworks forum <skunkworks at lists.my.co.ke> 
Press Release 

Kenya becomes the first African beneficiary
of IBM research lab 

August 13, 2012, Nairobi, Kenya – The government today announced the
opening of the first IBM research lab in Kenya. This makes Nairobi the premier location
for IBM research in the African continent. 

The lab, a
collaboration between Kenya and IBM East Africa, will see the partners each
contribute $10 million dollars (Ksh830 million), over a period of five years. 

Earlier today, President Mwai Kibaki and IBM Global Chief Executive
Officer, Ginni Rometty signed a memorandum of understanding to officially
flag-off the setting up of the lab.  

“Kenya vision is to become the top ICT hub in the continent.  IBM’s commitment to undertake the proposed research
agenda will contribute greatly to our national priorities as part of Kenya’s
Vision 2030 agenda,” said His ExcellencyHonorableMwai Kibaki,
President of Kenya. “We look forward to delivering world-class research and
innovation through the partnership and playing an important role as an IT
leader on the African continent.” 

It is projected that the lab will not only drive innovation but help market
Kenya as a leading modern services economy. The research agendas will be
defined by both parties and will have a strong emphasis on solving home-based
and African problems. 

The project will greatly benefit the momentum
already established in cutting-edge mobile money technology, contribute to the
creation of high-value jobs, and bring significant prestige for Kenya. 

“IBM continues to expand its operations in key growth markets and we plan
to lead the way by bringing Africa into our global network of IBM Research
laboratories,” said Dr. John E. Kelly III, IBM senior vice president and
director of IBM Research. “We will work closely with leading African scientists
and engineers from academia, government and industry to address some of their
most pressing challenges and greatest opportunities.”  

The Ministry of Information and Communications through the Kenya ICT board will
implement the project, which will see Kenyans also gain in knowledge diffusion.  

Speaking on the
partnership, PS, Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr Bitange Ndemo
said: "In today’s world, innovation is the main lever for a competitive
national economy, is a source of employment, and has the potential to improve
lives. The IBM research lab, will not only rubber stamp Kenya as Africa’s
leader in ICT, but will help the country to transform into a knowledge based
economy.”   
He was speaking
at a press briefing held at Kenya ICT Board offices, and attended by Paul
Kukubo, CEO, Kenya ICT Board, Robert Morris, Vice President, Services Research IBM,
Michael Browne, IBM Research, Director of Technical Strategy, Kumar Bhaskaran
and Program Director Technology & Strategy at IBM Research, Shanghai, China.
Others were Mugo Kibati, Director General Vision 2030, Josphat Karanja, Head of
Infrastructure, Kenya Education Network (KENET), Takreem El-Tohamy, IBM General
Manager, Middle East and Africa and Tony Mwai, Country General Manager for IBM
East Africa.  

The research lab is timely coming on the heels of Konza Techno City
Conference in which the country rallied to attract investors into the silicon park
that will drive Kenya towards achieving middle-income status. 

Under the partnership, Kenya will
provide the necessary environment, the physical space, facilitate the lab
setting up, while IBM will provide senior specialists, intellectual property
and will operate the Lab as part of its world-class network of global research
labs. Both partners are also expected to oversee
governance structures at the facility jointly.  

“The Kenya ICT Board has various
projects that will compliment the work of the IBM lab. These are in software
certification, open data, enterprise incubation and support for public sector
digitisation,” Mr Paul Kukubo, the CEO of Kenya ICT Board, said. “We see IBM as
a great partner in advancing the agenda the board’s transformation of Kenya,”
Mr Kukubo added.  

The research facility is expected to be operational this September and will
have its base in Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi.  

Africa will be the 12th laboratory in
the world-wide IBM network of labs, joining existing labs in Australia, Brazil,
China, Japan, India, Ireland, Israel, Switzerland and the United States, as IBM
continues to expand its research operations in key growth markets.  

ENDS 

Background
Information: 

About Kenya ICT Board 
The Kenya ICT
Board was established by HE President Mwai Kibaki, as a state corporation under
the State Corporations Act Cap. 446 on 19th February 2007. The Kenya ICT
Board’s mission is to champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit
ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for
socio economic enrichment. Its vision is that Kenya becomes a top ten global
ICT hub by 2030.  

Capacity building
programs are needed to establish a national strategy
to properly address skills and training issues. 
Such strategy would need the input, cooperation, and commitment of many parties. It needs to be led by the industry and involve partnerships with the government and education and training providers.  

IBM Research- Africa will
join existing labs in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,
Switzerland and the United States. IBM Research laboratories are credited with
the creation of many of the foundations of information technology, including
the invention of relational database, disk storage, DRAM memory and much more.
IBM Research has been recognized with 5 Nobel Prizes, and many leading
scientific and technical medals and awards. 
Recently IBM Research created a question-answering supercomputer called
Watson that defeated the champions of a major televised quiz show, showing its
ability to match humans in answering a wide range of free text questions. 

For more information, contact Ms. Phyllis Nyambura,
Communications, The Kenya ICT Board. Tel: 0700 396 433. Email: pnyambura at ict.go.ke 

Paul KukuboChief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT BoardPO Box 27150 - 00100Nairobi, Kenya12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange StreetTel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: http://www.ict.go.ke/local content project: http://www.tandaa.co.ke/, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya twitter:@tandaaKENYABPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.keDigital Villages Project: http://www.pasha.co.ke/ personal contacts_______________ Cell: + 254 717 180001skype: kukubopaulgoogletalk: pkukubopersonal blog: http://www.paulkukubo.co.ke/personal twitter: @pkukubo____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hubMission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment   _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks at lists.my.co.ke ------------ List info, subscribe/unsubscribe
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