2.6.2 Other Services
Kenya has emerged as an African ICT hub, in innovative technologies
particularly in the mobile sector. The implementation of mobile transfer services from in 2007 has put Kenya on the world map. Currently,
all the four mobile operators and two licensed content service providers (Mobikash Africa and Mobile Pay) are offering mobile money
transfer services. Furthermore, with mobile phones collaborating with
the banking sector, new mobile banking products have emerged. In
addition, most bills from public and private institutions ranging from
electricity, water, insurance, travel and NHIF and NSSF contributions
among others can now be paid via mobile phone platforms.
As noted, in terms of capacity to innovate, Kenya is at the same level
with South Africa and Portugal, which are middle and high-income
countries respectively. This shows that Kenya has a high potential to
be a leader in innovations which if well directed can be her competitive edge and steer economic growth.
Source: The Global Information Technology Report, 2013, 2012, & 2011
4
3
3.5
3.1
Capacity for Innovation Index
3.7
3.5
3.2
2
2.7 ICT Innovations
Kenya has been among Africa’s finest in ICT innovation with mobile
money transfer services, leading to increased financial inclusion. The
recent explosion of local ICT development groups such as iLab, iHub,
Nailab, University of Nairobi’s C4DLab and infoDev’s mlabs in Kenya
has set the stage for innovation of applications and information services such as Drumnet, mFarm, Ushahidi, etc. Over the years, Kenya
has been home to multiple African Regional hubs including, IBM’s
first African Research lab, Nokia’s Africa Headquarters and Google’s
first Sub-Saharan Africa office (outside of South Africa).
Figure 7 shows Kenya’s capacity for innovation compared with two
countries in the lower middle income (Ghana and Senegal), two countries in the upper middle income (South Africa and Brazil) and one
country in high income (Portugal).
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...............a...Digital
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3.5
1
2013
0
2012
2011
Figure 7:
Capacity
for
Innovation
Index
2.8 ICT Human Capacity
While the Government and the private sector have been investing
heavily in the ICT infrastructure as outlined above, there has comparatively been little investment in the human resources required to
design, develop and operate this infrastructure and the associated
e-applications. With the increasing sophistication of ICT and its applications, high-end skill sets are increasingly required and availability presents a challenge to growth and to achieving the vision of this
Master Plan.
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Towards a Digital Kenya
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