Uhuru roots for partnerships to fulfill pledges to Kenyans

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the government is collaborating with stakeholders to fulfill pledges made to Kenyans. 

In Summary

• President Kenyatta says the IBM Research Laboratory is an example of the best of partnerships that involves the academy, industry and Government.
• President Kenyatta also calls for collaboration in developing that talent, and harness it into generating the sort of win-win dynamic that will transform lives.

By PSCU
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The government is collaborating with stakeholders to fulfill pledges made to Kenyans, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.

President Kenyatta said the government was also working with the private sector to grow the economy by a double digit in order to create more jobs for the youth and reduce poverty.

“We anticipate partnerships of every shape and form to accelerate our quest. Some will be bilateral, others multilateral. A few will be temporary, single-issue cooperation, while others will be multidimensional and intense collaborations.”

The President was speaking at the Catholic University in Nairobi during the launch of IBM Research Lab, the first such facility to be established in Africa by the global technology firm.

The Lab will is designed to develop and deploy innovative information technology applications to tackle perennial challenges such as water and sanitation, energy, public procurement inefficiencies and traffic jams.

“This is why my administration has committed itself to promote more investment in industrialisation as key driver of growth, job creation and poverty reduction,” he added.

The President said over the last ten years, the country has made commendable progress towards conquering disease, illiteracy and hunger, which remained the main goals of the development agenda.
President Kenyatta said the IBM Research Laboratory is an example of the best of partnerships that involves the academy, industry and Government.

The partnership brings together PhDs and interns in a space replete with audacious imagination, bold innovation and energetic enterprise.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

He added that due to the symmetrical nature of public-private partnerships, the envisaged activities are expected to yield solutions and systems that will address very specific local problems through commercially viable innovations.

“The government will provide the required understanding of local and regional social, political and economic challenges, while IBM Corporation has the resource of more than a century's industrial and innovative experience,” the President said.

He welcomed the partnership between the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology through the ICT Board, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and the IBM Cooperation with emphasis on Smarter Cities, Medical Healthcare, Education, Water, Agriculture and Transport.

“These are also areas which government intends to concentrate its resources and transformative strategies,” the President said.

He noted with appreciation the efforts so far invested into developing various appropriate solutions including traffic estimation and control systems which forms a key component of city planning.

“For motorists, this effort will culminate in a mobile phone application allowing us to look up road conditions and traffic in real time and suggest alternative routes,” President Kenyatta said.

The President said while the University will contribute the intellectual and academic framework to exploit the knowledge emanating from the partnership, through applied and exploratory research, people will be empowered to overcome challenges and improve their lives.

President Kenyatta called for collaboration in developing that talent, and harness it into generating the sort of win-win dynamic that will transform lives.

Entrepreneurs involved will in the process generate incomes and employment, he added.

Speaking during the function, the Vice President, Global Labs, IBM Research Dr. Robert Morris said the lab which is the first of its kind in Africa is aimed at conducting basic and applied research focused on solving problems relevant to Africa.

He said the scientific, technical skills and innovative solutions from the lab will not only benefit Africa but would also be exported to help other parts of the world.

Other speakers included the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology Dr. Fred Matiang’i and Director IBM Research Africa, Dr Kamal Bhattacharya