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CONTRIBUTORS: JOSIAH MUGAMBI ANGELA OKUNE SAMANTHA MERRITT KENNEDY KIRUI
PHOTOGRAPHY:
JOSEPH MATHAI AND KELVIN MBUGUA
WEB:
JACOB CHENCHA
LAYOUT DESIGN: ZACK ADELL
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“ONE CAN ACQUIRE EVERYTHING IN SOLITUDE EXCEPT CHARACTER.” – Stendhal I HAD TO READ THIS QUOTE A SECOND, AND THIRD TIME TO APPRECIATE ITS DEPTH AND HOW TRUE IT RINGS FOR IHUB. RIGHT FROM ITS ESTABLISHMENT, TO GROWTH, TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND WHERE WE WANT TO BE – MANY WOULD SAY WE HAVE BUILT A BRAND. WHICH IS TRUE. YET MORE TO THIS, I BELIEVE WE HAVE BUILT CHARACTER. ONE OF OPENNESS, INCLUSIVITY, INTEGRITY, FUN AND DISRUPTIVE IN DNA. AND NO ONE PERSON COULD HAVE ACHIEVED THIS ALONE, IT REQUIRED AND STILL REQUIRES COLLABORATIVE EFFORT OF YOU – OUR COMMUNITY. THUS OUR EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY AS ONE PART OF OUR THREE PILLARS: TECHNOLOGY. INNOVATION. COMMUNITY. If you look up the word community, you will find a myriad of meanings from locational and biological denotation, to that of a sense of fellowship on shared interests, goals and attitudes. So, for our first issue of an iHub quarterly newsletter covering the overall organization, we demystify who this community is to us, how we have engaged them and what are the forthcoming prospects where the community is concerned. Our Executive Director shares on why we exist to catalyze the growth of the tech community, what we have done towards achieving this and why more of the same needs to continuously occur. How do we catalyze this growth? By connecting people, supporting startups and surfacing information. This too has been elucidated in the consequent articles from each of our initiatives: iHub Research, iHub UX Lab and iHub Consulting. Do enjoy the read and we look forward to your feedback on whether we’re on the community track, where we have been derailed or if we never got on it to begin with! As always your thoughts and opinions are important to us.
IHUB IQUARTERLY EDITOR,
RHODA OMENYA
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Watu is people in Swahili*
THE IHUB EXISTS TO CATALYZE THE GROWTH OF THE KENYAN TECH COMMUNITY. It does this by developing and connecting people, supporting startups and surfacing information. It is the first such space in Kenya and has spurred a revolution in the tech ecosystem across the African continent over the 4+ years that it has been in existence. Several similar initiatives have subsequently sprung up across continent, with a World Bank estimate putting it at over 90 hubs and labs.
IBRD 40702
TECH HUBS ACROSS AFRICA (as of February 2014)
ECONOMIES WITH A KNOWN TECH HUB INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES Source: iHub Research / World Bank / Bongohive
MOROCCO
TUNISIA
Al Akhawayn University Technology Business incubator
Wiki Start Up
Mediterranean Sea
ARAB REP. OF EGYPT Cairo Hackspace Tahrir Square The District Flat6Labs Plug and Play Egypt
Red Sea
SENEGAL
MALI
Jokkolabs Bantalabs CTIC Dakar Africa Living Lab Mobile Senegal Jiguene Tech Hub
Jokkolabs Bamako
NIGERIA BURKINA FASO Yam Pukri Jokkolabs Ouagadougou
L5 Labs Co-creation Hub Wennovation Hub Technology Incubation Centre Minna Tech Incubation Centre Institute for Venture Design Tinapa Knowledge Centre
SOMALIA Somaliland BITS
UGANDA @TheHub Outbox Hive Colab Grameen Foundation AppLab
CAMEROON ActivSpaces Digitising Cameroon
LIBERIA iLab Liberia
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
GHANA TOGO
ICT Incubator Jokkolabs Abidjan Akendewa AMN Co-working Space Waleya Tech hub
mFriday The Labs MEST Afrinnova gSpace iSpace Ghana Multimedia Incubator Centre Mobile Web Ghana Kumasi Business Incubator Oguaa Business Incubator
BENIN
CONGO
e-TRILABS
BantuL@b
ETHIOPIA IceAddis Mekelle ICT Business Incubator
RWANDA kLab The Office iHills Network
KENYA
DEM. REP. OF CONGO
TANZANIA
Bantu l@b
ANGOLA INEEFP Business Incubator
Kinu CosTech Dar es Salaam Innovation Space TANZICT innovation space Dar Tekinohama Business Incubator
iHub Aro Fab m:Lab East Africa Start-up Garage GrowthHub Nokia Hub @iLab Africa NaiLab
ZAMBIA Workgroup Innovation Centre Bongohive Zambia
MAURITIUS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
MOZAMBIQUE BOTSWANA NAMIBIA
MICTI Technology and Business Centre
Botswana Innovation Hub Chaetsho Technology Hub
Cybercity mLab
MADAGASCAR I-Hub Malagasy
Namibia Business Innovation Centre Fablab Namibia
INDIAN OCEAN SOUTH AFRICA
0 0
500 500
GSDPM Map Design Unit
1,000 Miles 1,000 Kilometers
This map was produced by the Map Design Unit of The World Bank. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of The World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
Tech hubs across Africa as of February 2014 Credit: http://blogs.worldbank.org/ic4d/files/Kelly_Techhubs_0.pdf
Bandwidth Barn Umbono Silicon Cape Impact Amplifier Codebridge Angel Hub Eastern Cape Information Technology Initiative Smart Xchange CodedinBraam Innovation by Design SoftStart Technology The House 4 Hack mLab Southern Africa Start-up Garage The Hub Rlabs Invo Tech incubator
MAY 2014
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We are nurturing the best innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem; one that constantly challenges and influences technology; one that can be replicated across the continent, as we believe that African innovation will play a critical role in shaping future technology globally. The iHub also includes: part open community space, part vector for investors and VCs, and part incubator, and we provide an environment for startups to think through their ideas, and develop their products; lowering the barriers to entry for many young would-be entrepreneurs. We surface information useful to startups, corporates, other organizations and people in the tech ecosystem. This is made easily available, accessible and digestible, as we believe in growing the community’s body of knowledge by sharing information. In catalyzing the growth of the tech community, we intend to continuously spur a vibrant community of innovators and entrepreneurs able to build “best in the world” companies while solving the myriad of problems present in Africa and across the developing world. We develop people by providing an environment that allows them to visibly grow in their technical and non-technical skills, and critically, act as a connector, allowing world leaders in business and technology to meet with aspiring entrepreneurs fresh from high school. Recently the iHub community, in conjunction with Ushahidi had the privilege of hosting the MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito at a Fireside Chat where he spent 2 hours talking about his experiences as a Japanese-American serial entrepreneur. One of my key take aways, which is very much related to what we are doing at the iHub is the value of building communities and relationships, with his mission in life being the building of communities for instance at Mozilla and the Creative Commons, or even in his early days working as a DJ at a nightclub. Other highlights from his fireside chat include the importance of figuring out how one learns - he says he learns by interacting with people, while others learn by doing or reading. He also emphasized the importance of taking risks early, failing fast (even if one ends up with a $200k debt…).
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Photo 2: Joi Ito Courtesy of iHub Photography
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Part of what we’re building here at iHub is taking the very real understanding of community from an African point of view and leveraging that in the tech space. In Africa, we believe in building relationships across different groups of people, and that is why at the iHub we believe in openness. We are an inclusive bunch of people. There is space for all sorts of people here, from the introverted geek to the creative maverick. We are collaborative, we believe in sharing useful information, bridging gaps and building each other. We are disruptive; we are curious learners and we ask questions - sometimes uncomfortable questions - in our quest to push the boundaries of innovation. We believe in taking risks, and learning from failure, and in doing so strive to lead from the front. We believe in getting stuff done. We are ‘do-ers’, high performers with the bar for excellence raised beyond the ceiling. Actually, we have no ceiling. The iHub has been over the past four years known for attracting developers, creatives, and other mobile and web startups and entrepreneurs. However, technology is not limited to mobile and web platforms. It just happens that many tech based products have a mobile and/or web component, and thus many people have dashed towards developing mobile applications and websites, many times without considering whether the app or website has a sizeable market, serves a need and can grow to a successful and sustainable product. I believe that this approach needs to change. Tech and non tech people need to interact more; many times it is the non tech person, the wearer of the shoe (user) who understands what problems exist and by working with a tech minded person or team can develop a far more viable product. The social scientist and data scientist interacting and analyzing trends across various cultures and communities. The jua kali artisan and the mechanical engineer figuring out how to mass-produce locally relevant innovations. The biochemist and the electronic engineer figuring out how both the biological and electronic worlds can interact. There are numerous possibilities and products that could result from these interactions, and particularly so in this part of the world. We will be do this by stirring the pot, taking tech entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs out of their comfort zones and immersing them in other industries and sectors, economies, societies, counties and countries, and encouraging a cross pollination of ideas across different disciplines and even cultures, so as to realize the improvement or creation of new and scalable products and services from the startups and aspiring entrepreneurs that form part of our community.
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The research arm was established to support the iHub in its mission to catalyze the growth of the Kenyan technology community. We believe that simply ‘making’ without studying what has gone well or not, misses a key component of the innovation cycle (how can we make new or better products if we don’t know what’s wrong with the current solutions?). Over the past three years, we have therefore been keen to ensure that we are at the forefront of understanding technology in society in Africa.
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All the research we do aims to raise relevant insights and further questions that we believe will directly or indirectly benefit the technology community in Kenya and beyond. Some of the research that has directly benefited start-ups includes assisting M-Farm to better understand needs of their product users, and WezaTele to better understand the Kenyan e-commerce scene. Indirect benefits from our work on monitoring dangerous speech online (Umati) for example include better understanding Kenyan Internet Governance (important for all of us working online!), and looking at the connection between online and offline (Especially Relevant for those whose products are not just digital). Our target research audience also goes beyond just supporting ‘builders’ and ‘makers’. We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology (JKUAT) to collaborate in offering the next generation of technology leaders well-rounded exposure not only to theory, but also practical research experience. Through such partnerships with academia, iHub Research supports the theoretical work being done in the university setting with empirical work grounded in field. In the same vein, we are passionate about supporting the growth of individual local researchers and growing the impact of their contribution to knowledge. Our Research Fellows Program houses both local and international visiting researchers, bringing a diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds together. We believe this is crucial for questioning research assumptions and widening our own viewpoints. At the latest Nairobi Research Buzz session led by one of our Visiting Research Fellows, I met Margaret, a diploma student who regularly attends NRBuzz (and is often the first one to arrive and patiently wait for the event to start). When I inquired as to why she attends so consistently, she enthused, “The events that are run here are so eye-opening and provide information and knowledge that I don’t get exposed to in my formal institution of learning.” Such feedback is useful to hear as it validates the path we are on in continually surfacing relevant information for the technology community.
Anne Salim of iHub Research leading the EdTech NRBuzz session Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
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During lunch with one of our Visiting Research Fellows last week, I learned that working with and in the iHub has been an enormous value-add for her research on the design of mobile money innovations. Being at the iHub enabled her to connect with a wide variety of people from academia, private sector, and NGOs who provided her with useful information and resources. Being part of the iHub research community also gave her a chance to practice her research skills (such as presenting and teaching). After 6 months spent physically working at the iHub, she found iHub to be the best place to be connected to a wide network of those focused on technology in Kenya and the region. Hearing this gave me goosebumps and made my heart pound (in a good way) because it reasserted the value of having a community of individuals and organizations ardent about developing, understanding, and furthering technology come together. Over the past 4 years, iHub has evolved and shifted, with new faces, new initiatives, new products, but at our core is this idea that by coming together, we can learn from each other and improve ourselves and the emerging technology innovations. This continues to be a strong cord that ties the iHub together and this shapes our research programs and activities. That said, we aim to continue to push the envelope in terms of the type of information we share as well as the methods to share it. We have been exploring different forms of sharing information beyond the traditional papers and reports because we desire to create knowledge that will inform both local and international practice. We have begun to host forums where we think important issues raised by our research can be discussed and debated. We have also used visualizations to communicate some of our work. Three years after iHub Research’s launch, can we say that we’ve been able to influence the state of research on technology in society in Africa? We have started, but I don’t believe that role is for us alone. Rather, if we are able to inspire others to also contribute to the creation and building of knowledge, we can ‘catalyze’, in the true sense of the word. At iHub Research, not only do we seek to conduct germane research itself, we also seek to cultivate critical thinkers and curious people hungry for knowledge who will also help to further technology development in the region. We therefore continue to do our best to innovate with new methods and tools for building such talent. Our latest initiatives include our Data Science Jam and Kids Hacker Camp.
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Kids Hacker Camp Photo: Erik Hersman and Dr. Kamal Bhattacharya, Director IBM Research – Africa together with kids at a past Kids Hacker Camp
Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
I encourage you to come talk to us on the 2nd floor of Bishop Magua or email us if you need to conduct stellar technology research or are fervent about engaging with us to move the state of technology forward.
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In thirty to sixty minutes, at no cost to the startup, a member of the UX Lab team then tries to quickly listen, advise, and teach UX to the fresh startup. At the iHub UX Lab, we have (and will continue to) offer this one-time UX consulting appointments to startups wishing to engage UX (user experience) principals in their business.
"What is it you do in here again? Can you help me with my app?" "Yes. We can provide you with a UX consulting to see what you need. Our goal is to think about your users first and ensure that what your app does is putting users and their experience first." "Oh. Ok. What do I do?" "Well you schedule an appointment with us, and arrive ready to tell us about (or show us) your app."
Recently, we decided: this is not enough. SO HOW DOES THE UX LAB ENGAGE AND SUPPORT THE IHUB COMMUNITY STARTUPS? We train, present, and teach all the time! We tweet and blog too! UX knowledge is challenging because a little bit is better than none at all, but sometimes: a little bit is not enough. While training and teaching, I often worry that a short presentation may even cause more harm than good. I worry that a startup trying to engage with the UX Lab or with UX principals will view UX as oversimplified and largely unhelpful or unimportant. The UX Lab team has been working hard to build a UX culture around the iHub community lately, and as result, the community of startups and entrepreneurs is starting to recognize that UX is something potentially important. However, we have seen that our community needed more engagement with us in order to really make use of UX knowledge in their own way.
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UX curriculum class
Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
Even the best UX professional cannot train enough UX skills in an hour to solve all the problems facing a new startup, so we do more than some brief UX consulting meetings to support the startup community. To spread the basics of UX to startups, we give short talks at community events and very subsidized, full day/week-long trainings for partner organizations (such as trainings at m:lab or ideation sessions with funded startups or at local universities). However, even these engagements are not enough to support startups' complex challenges. There is an entire UX industry, academic, conferences and people that build entire careers growing UX portfolios. Drawing upon those resources, we built a curriculum designed for Community members (all levels) that teaches the knowledge and skills needed to really engage UX principles in a project or startup. The new curriculum is being piloted now with a talented, eager group of students from the iHub Community ecosystem and in partnership with a Community startup, Abacus and its founder, Joel Macharia. Some of the skills we have learned in our course include: design ethnography, questionnaires and interviews, participatory design (overview, history, and brief examples), design insights (what they are and what to do with them), sketching and iteration. The format of the course is: every two weeks we learn a new UX skill, and during the week in between, we put that new skill to use helping a community startup. You can explore our materials and schedule by visiting our Google+ page; you can find our calendar publicly accessible by adding the public Google Calendar for uxlabtraining@ihub.co.ke. The iHub UX Lab team is very excited to be offering this curriculum to more students as we go forward.
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Complex startup ideas and applications sometimes need/want more than some training or a quick consulting meeting. We want the community startups to be as awesome as you do, and the UX Lab team strives to support startups, even if it costs us some extra time and sweat. For most clients, engaging with the UX Lab means paying for the lab's services, and UX services usually cost money. We know, startups just do not have so much money, yet! The UX Lab understands. Really. For startups wishing to engage the UX Lab's professional services, we have created a new service price level that was designed to encourage community members and early startups to use the UX Lab on a very small budget. Startups and community members can get the same services that our big clients get, but at a very, *very* affordable rate. Startups can get usability tests, branding/logo design, prototyping, user research, interface UX consulting/advice, and even one-on-one mentorship/training for a startup's team (developers, designers, or UX persons). Sometimes a new company just needs space: space to work, space to present, space to have a meeting or host a client. We support and advise community startups about this too. Our space is for rent to the community startups at a very, very affordable rate too. Being a tech startup is hard, we know. Startups need a lot of things, and have to do with very little. There is a lot to think about. Now, you have the UX Lab team telling you to think about ‘the user’ too? Yes, that's correct: we want you to think about your user, a lot. This is how we support the startups. We want to help make startups from our community more successful the first time around. Intelligent, efficient startups can ensure a faster path to good design decisions by placing an early focus on the users (customers, market, or whatever you would like to call the people who use your business or technology). We are committed to engaging with startups in the UX process and offering all the UX services (at reduced prices) that we offer to ‘big’ clients so that our community startups have all the same advantages and benefits. This is our tech community too, and we want it to be the best in the world. We, at the UX Lab, live and breathe a focus on user empathy; it is what we do. We want you to do it too, and if you do not, let us help you or show you how!
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It is common in any new industry that the first to jump on a new bandwagon is usually set to reap the most from it. The same principle applies to the software industry in Kenya. Individuals and organizations that joined the tech ecosystem early reaped the most of it. Early adopters got the bulk of work from corporates and due to the low supply of tech talent then, they were able to charge premium rates for the work they did. It didn’t end at that; as in an industry where your portfolio is your biggest bargaining chip; the early adopters had a huge bargaining chip to get more work. The first startups in Kenya had the first mover advantage and most have never looked back since then. Take a look at the banking sector to see how big the opportunities were then - Internet and mobile banking were very new concepts; so was e-commerce. As a result there were better opportunities. Techies who saw this early reaped great benefits. Fortunately, demand for tech-based solutions in Kenya is growing on a daily basis. Most organizations are in the process of automating their processes as the value of software is proving to be a real game changer. Processes like supply chain management and customer relationship management are very important to organizations and off the shelf solutions have proven disappointing. Many organizations are still struggling to surface information in a manner that the public can consume. This is particularly true in the NGO world. Organizations that already have automated processes are looking into making better use of the data that they collect e.g. drawing insights from data that will help them make informed decisions. There is a clear need for software solutions. Right from the outset, the iHub community has had tinkerers and experimenters in the space. We have always had people willing to try out emerging tech trends with the aim of building useful tools from them. In a fast paced industry this is quite apt. However, as a tinkerer or a developer, at the end of the day, you need to be able to pay your bills. The lowest-hanging fruit is taking on consultancy work. This is where it gets tricky mainly because of two key things: the clientele at your disposal and your ability to deliver. The market is promising - there is a lot of demand but not enough money to match the demand. We still have a huge number of clients who don’t understand the value of software and hence most of them attach a very low price to it. This poses a big challenge to the freelancers. One option is to take on many jobs for a low price and let the numbers add up. This hardly works out as the freelancer usually ends up disappointing most of the clients. The other option is to hold out for the bigger contracts. Such work usually takes longer to finish and the clients are more demanding as they are paying top dollar for it. Moreover, it is also not easy to land such contracts, as you require a solid portfolio and a proven track record of delivering quality work.
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As iHub, we saw a gap that we could fill that would serve both the client and the developer well. On one hand we have clients looking for techies who can deliver quality work and on the other hand, we have community members who can offer these services. iHub, through the Consulting initiative, is taking two complementary approaches towards improving the talent in our community. Our first approach is working on client projects with community members. Over a year ago, we drafted sixteen consultants to join the iHub Consulting pool who would then offer tech-based services to different clientele. The pool is made up of designers, quality testers, developers, project managers and digital marketers, among others. We take on a management and quality assurance role during project implementation where we learn and document lessons so that others can learn from the same.
Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
Joint project-brainstorming session between Consulting, UX and Research
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Wire frame development starts offline and then it is digitized on Pidoco and shared with the client. Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
One of the biggest challenges we have faced so far with client projects is understanding the client needs. Most times you will not get this information simply by asking as the client might not have a clear idea or they might not be able to express it in a way that you will comprehend. Prototyping has helped us surmount this challenge. Prototyping involves building a part of the system and showing the same to the client. The client then gives feedback on what they see, after which we use the feedback to improve the solution. However, prototyping in the traditional sense can be expensive and time consuming especially if the solution mutates a lot during development. We have tried out tools like Pidoco, which enable us to prototype solutions and get feedback from our clients quickly and in a cost effective manner. Such tools help us cut back on the number of changes that need to be done during the coding phase as you get a clear idea of what you are building before you write even a single line of code.
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The other challenge faced so far is the ability to deliver on projects consistently. The entire premise behind setting up the Consulting initiative was that we could have quality solutions coming from the iHub community. Working with consultants has its own challenges. What we have noted over time is that the local tech ecosystem is technically capable but there is a huge gap in soft skills. Simple things like communication, managing time and managing expectations are not given obligatory attention. Software projects hardly go as planned due to their dynamic nature and hence project management is fundamental. Each of our projects has a dedicated project manager. However, for a project manager to be effective he/ she has to work with developers. We have realized that most developers don’t understand how communicating issues proactively is important. They will tell you at the last possible moment that they faced an issue and hence a milestone might not be attained. The ripple effect is that a project might not be delivered within the agreed timeline consequently resulting in an unhappy client. To combat this we are currently working on a development process that will help us identify issues as soon as they arise. We use project management tools such as Basecamp and it has helped a lot in reducing such incidences.
Our second approach is through trainings that we undertake targeting the wider community. As aforementioned, we discovered that many of our community members are want of soft skills. Soft skills play a huge role in ensuring that projects are delivered on time and that the client is happy. For any project, managing the client is one of the most critical things, but most techies tend to overlook this. This is what determines whether the client will speak highly of you or not. Since June last year, we have trained 150+ professionals, in partnership with like-minded organizations, on project management, business management and quality assurance. So far we have held 6 trainings in partnership with the African Management Initiative. 5 of these have been on self-management and 1 on money management. A huge challenge for us has been trying to communicate to the community that they need other skills besides technical skills but for those who have gotten onboard, the trainings have gone a long way in improving their skills. We’ve had great stories, including my favorite where one of the developers who attended our trainings reported a tripling in revenue – simply by applying lessons learnt from the self-management training. It’s demonstrations such as these that keep us going and renew our efforts in doing what we do.
Photo Courtesy of iHub Photography
Microsoft My Skillz 4Afrika, Project Management Training with Martina Hennessy Earlier this year, we partnered with Microsoft to offer 3 trainings on their Azure product, project management and quality assurance. One participant kept saying, “This program is just perfect.� I believe for him and for us as well, it was eye-opening on the importance of these trainings. Such reactions have informed our plans for the future as we look ahead. We are planning to offer more trainings around quality assurance and management and forging partnerships with organizations that are as passionate about learning as we are. We believe that by combining these two approaches we will make a significant improvement in the talent we have in our community. Going forward, we intend to scale our operations so as to incorporate more of our community members. We are also in the process of documenting our processes so that we can share the same with the community at the end of July.
The future looks bright for the tech space in Kenya; we hope to play a big role in making this the reality.
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