Konza City to house regional innovation testing hub

Kenya will soon have a specialised regional lab for testing and validating viable products from incubation and innovation hubs.

Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) Chief Executive Officer John Tanui says this is part of plans by the authority to drive Kenya's efforts of becoming a knowledge-based economy.

"We are in the process of developing the Konza Regional Innovation Hub, which will be home to innovative solutions for communications, business, health, education and smart cities. The hub will link other innovation hubs in the country and build an innovation pipeline," said Tanui.

The centre will prepare products from incubation hubs and innovation for market launches as well as offer them support until the innovations endure the market forces.

Speaking during a public lecture at the University of Nairobi on the role of universities in building an innovation ecosystem, KoTDA CEO called on employers to develop mechanisms that support students to develop business acumen at an early stage and begin to influence their research areas.

Tanui was optimistic a huge impact will be created by Konza Techno city, which is often referred to as Kenya's Silicon Savannah. On his part, University of Nairobi Vice-Chancellor Peter Mbithi noted that knowledge is replacing other resources as the key driver of development, adding that technical education has increasingly become the basis of individual prosperity.