Africa Innovation Hubs

I thought I would share this article about governments in African countries and the promotion of tech innovation.

http://afrinnovator.com/blog/2012/02/10/the-role-of-government-in-promoting-tech-innovation-in-africa/

The capacity of African tech entrepreneurs is really incredible and there is lots of innovation coming out of the continent. Although no one can deny the importance of a governments role in tech innovation. There are fortunately some African countries that with forward thinking leaders, fostering innovation in those countries. Unfortunately many countries do not, stifling tech innovation and widening the digital divide.

I found it interesting how the article talked about the importance of incubation hubs. Places where young entrepreneurial thinkers can go, get mentored and really become empowered as to the type of impact they can make in their countries. Here are some links to some of the hubs.

1. iHub - http://ihub.co.ke/pages/home.php
2. activespaces - http://activspaces.com/
3. Co-creation Hub - http://www.cchubnigeria.com/
4. BongoHive - http://bongohive.com/

These hubs really have become the center of innovation in African communities, they do a great job of taking advantage of local capacity. Goverments are in turn increasinlgy starting to realize the importance of the hubs for building technolgies that are contextual to the citizens of thier countires. As I am sure we all know "Necessity is the mother of invention” with the way the digital dividing is becoming wider and wider and western communities advancing technologically, these hubs serve the purpose to make up what these communities lack and that is an entrepreneurial spirit where people of communities, are building for their communities.

Ketaki brings up an interesting idea in her blog post on Africa Leapfrogging the West. As many ICT4D initiatives fail, western communities are starting to realize that forms of technology and interaction that work in western communities won't necessarily work in Africa. That because of the different context, which is really where the African entrepreneurial spirit gets to shine.

I feel as if these innovation hubs can serve has a very important bridge between Western and African Communities. Western organizations I feel have and resources and and African communities have the indigenous knowledge. This serves has a healthy tension, because bridging both types of services can bring the maximum amount of impact to the community.