CS Joe Mucheru urges private sector to support innovation

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru at a past event. FILE PHOTO | DIANA NGILA |

Information Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has urged the private sector to support local innovations.

“Innovation is a tool that can transform lives. I appeal to [the] financial sector and more so the stock market, to plug into the innovation ecosystem,” said Mr Mucheru on Tuesday.

The minister attended a meeting in which the University of Nairobi sought the support of various stakeholders for its annual Nairobi Innovation Week, set to take place in August.

During the meeting, the university presented a road map for the event, which will be held from August 1-5.

Vice-Chancellor Peter Mbithi appealed to partners to support the event as innovation is a key pillar in development.

“Kenya’s ability to compete in the global market is based on its competitiveness,” said Prof Mbithi.

Tonny Omwansa, the coordinator of Nairobi Innovation Week, said the event would comprise keynote speeches in plenary sessions, policy discussions, research paper and case study presentations, roundtable discussions as well as exhibitions of inventions and innovations by individual innovators, start-ups and organisations.

He said the university is engaged in a variety of initiatives, including commercialising research, revising curricula and growing start-ups at the C4DLab.

This year's Nairobi Innovation Week has so far attracted support from Unicef, Intel, Barclays Bank, Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank among others.

The event brings together partners from government, the private sector, development partners and research centres with the aim of providing a platform for show-casing and encouraging innovation beyond networking and sharing knowledge.

The theme of this year’s event is "Partnership for Innovation That Truly Impact People and Societies."