Kenya National ICT Education Forum

12-12 September 2012

Jacaranda Hotel Nairobi

Kenya National ICT Education Forum

A stakeholders’ Forum to develop an Action Plan to Bridge the ICT Education and Training Gap.

AITEC Africa, in partnership with Digital Age Institute, is convening a National ICT Education Forum to address the issues related to this gap, develop an Action Plan to address it, and establish an industry-education oversight body to monitor progress and adjust and promote the action plan in response to market developments.

An initial breakfast meeting of all stakeholders will take place on Wednesday 12 September at Jacaranda Hotel, Westlands, Nairobi from 7am to 1pm. Following this initial six-hour Forum, which will identify the challenges and action points, a second Forum will be held as part of the AITEC East Africa ICT Summit on 25 October 2012 for stakeholders to share findings and report back on action points.

Kenya has a window of opportunity, from the profile it has developed as a centre of mobile innovation, to build a world-class software development and IT-enabled services industry. However, there still remains a wide gap between the qualifications and skills of entrants into the labour market and the actual needs of the country’s emerging ICT industry – as well as the ICT capacity needs of enterprises across all sectors, as well as in government. Furthermore, as has been shown in other markets, the ICT sector has a major multiplier effect on the overall economy. This makes it a national priority to address the ICT skills gap.

FORUM AGENDA

7.00 am Welcome and introductions – Sean Moroney, Chairman, AITEC Africa

7.15 am Setting the agenda – David Svarrer, CEO Digital Age Institute

7.30 am Stakeholder perspectives - invited speakers from Industry and Education

9.00 am Summing-up of key challenges 

9.15 am Developing strategy and action points in teams

11.00 am Summing up action points and setting agenda for Forum at the AITEC East Africa ICT Summit (Oshwal Centre, 24-25 October 2012)

12.00 am Final comments, establishment of follow- up groups, oversight body, agreeing to next meeting before the ICT Summit 2012

13.00 am Closing remarks

For additional information email mikeo@aitecafrica.com, or david.svarrer@digitalageinstitute.com or send a text to our SMS gateway on 0734 936 145, or call 0714 503 333 David Svarrer or 0723 764 118 Mike Otieno. The cost of attending the breakfast meeting is Ksh3,200 per head. Digital booking on http://bit.ly/indust-educ-2012, with payment SOLELY to MPESA Bill Payment, business no. 543210, account: Smart education. No cash, EFT, cheques or RTGS payments. Receipts will be issued with ETR receipt, to be picked up from the registration desk at the breakfast venue.