Kenya’s capacity to compete in the global market greatly depends on the ability of her people to innovate and apply the relevant technology for growth and development. Kenya has put innovation at the centre of its development strategy primarily through Vision 2030 as well as through legislation such as the Science, Technology and Innovation Act, which mandates that R&D spending be doubled to 2% of the GDP. Though the government and more particularly the University have put efforts into fostering innovations, many of the innovations developed are not known to the public. It is in this line that C4DLab, an innovation hub at the University of Nairobi which aims to enhance innovation in the University and in the country wishes to host a series of activities to celebrate technology and innovation through an innovation week in the second half of 2015.
The innovation week, which would be transformed into a signature annual event, would bring together partners from government, private sector, development partners and research centers with an aim of providing a platform for show-casing and encouraging innovation over and above networking and sharing knowledge.

Dates, Venue, Theme

Date: Wednesday 5th August, 2015 – Friday 7th August, 2015

Venue: University of Nairobi Graduation Grounds

Theme: Innovate and Prosper: Strengthening Academia, Industry and Government Linkages for Economic Growth
 

Objectives

• To show case/exhibit and recognize innovations by researchers, incubatees (C4Dlab and beyond), private companies.
• To create a platform for presentation of academic papers, innovation illustrations and case studies focused on research and innovation
• To champion policy discussions on innovation in Kenya
The event will comprise keynote speeches in plenary sessions, policy discussions, paper and case study presentations, roundtable discussions and exhibition of inventions and innovations by various players in the industry.
 

Benefits and Impact

• Engage with policy makers on the growth and support of the innovation ecosystem in Kenya
• Create linkages between the diversity of stakeholders in the industry.
• Learn about existing innovations and inventions that benefit others.
• Discuss how local international collaboration in applied research can be supported by private and public innovation facilita¬tors.
• Increase the visibility of innovators, C4Dlab, the University and partners
 

Target Audience

The targeted audience for the Innovation week is as follows:
• Policy makers from government
• Academia
• Entrepreneurs with innovations or seeking to introduce innovation in their businesses
• Corporate companies wanting to showcase latest innovations or looking to introduce new innovations that would increase productivity and profitability
• Innovators from national and regional institutions such as universities, research institutions, technical, vocational and entrepreneurial training (TVET) Institutions
• Students with innovations or interested in learning more about innovation
• Community members who have or interested in innovative ideas
• Investors, venture capitalists, international organizations and development partners.