After a random look at my twitter
account, I came across a tweet that said something about an event at
ThoughtWorks. Its been ages since I visited the impressive office
that they had set up on Solis House (The building not the person).
I walked into a well aired and well
arranged space of fresh and bright minds whose brilliance I could
sense as I walked in. A little like the sound of a server fan as it
cools the processor in some costly but well protected room.
I was quickly ushered into a room by a
well built man who was rather pleased to meet me, unfortunately I
had no idea who he was and was rather pleased at the time to think
that I had just hit the jack pot (I do not gamble even if Bond makes
it look attractive)!
Well fast forward from that and I had
now months later there was an event slated for a Friday evening and
this time around in a different location. ThoughtWorks itself had
moved from the 3rd or 4th floor right up to the
6th floor of the Solis and commanded quite a view of the
city and the busy tributary that handles traffic on the aptly named
Lumumba Ave.
Time had passed and I had attempted to
interact with some of the choice minds that were often present at the
OutboxHub-another prominent collaborative space that is housed in the
same building and that caters to yet another category of young
promising individuals.
Well when Friday came I was keen to
make sure that Kampala's unpredictable weather would not be a barrier
and so I proceeded a little early. I found the place soon enough
located in Nakawa, right where the Taxi park used to be located.
Here are some of the outstanding
features that I found on the 6th Floor at the offices of
the New ThoughtWorks.
THE LOCATION and the SPACE
1. An Impressive Painting
Not entirely sure who the artist is but
there is a large piece of art painted on canvas using oils but also
combining cotton material to dress the
lively young lady that is part of the design. She is gazing with much
hope with arms out stretched and cupped as though she is holding an
invisible object. On her neck is a butterfly resplendent in its
natural colors and visibly calmed by her unimposing presence.
A useful symbol
for a environment that is designed to foster deep thought and placed
strategically on a table at the opposite end of the work space. In
addition to this a ping pong table (reminiscent of something you
would probably find in a google office-designed to attract free
thinkers).
3. Bulletin
Boards
To create
partitions to various sections of the works space, there are boards
on which are designed to help the visually minded keep track of
various projects and to present some kind of progress. An interesting
one right in the middle of the office has a basic description of what
it means to be hired and how the new hires, interns and mentees move
through the organization.
4. The Mission
Spelt out and
displayed clearly for all to see on a stand alone pull up banner.
Useful for those who in the chaos of daily living are often prone to
forget why they exist...or at least why the organization for which
they work exists. I remember rushing to see the website and finding a
reflexion of the same character.
THE EVENT AND THE ETHOS
The Culture
You could argue
that most of the creative and collaborative spaces in Uganda are
formed by the same western-American way of thinking. The staff is
usually animated in a Hollywood kind of way. You can tell that the
vast majority of the workers have had some interaction with
technology related investors (presentations, mannerisms and
Americanisms). The spaces are normally rather relaxed but intense in
the sense in which design especially coding can be an exacting
science.
The groups are on
the whole humorous and witty and quick on the draw. You have a sense
that you are interacting with the Best of the Best-and rightly so.
Some of what you
experience is based on activities generated in places like google
that are designed to 'favor' the worker. Much research has gone into
creating attractive work spaces that can enhance creativity. Spend
some time here though and you will realize that these places are not
for slackers.
The Draw
We have made a lot
of progress in our drive to mainstream technology but we are still
lagging in the ability to provide Internet access. The ICT Ministry
and NITA have held many discussions regarding the costs issue and we
are certain that this challenge will soon be dealt with. What this
means though is that most of our visitors (to creative and innovative
spaces) are there for the Internet speeds and free Internet access.
The few that make it for the training sessions, will benefit but what
you will have is a relatively well skilled but unmanaged populace.
You will have plenty of people learning various skills but you will
have no way of quantifying that knowledge and using it to benefit
your people on mass.
The Idea
The TechRadar
event was well organized and makes a whole lot of sense. I have
technology that I make use of and would like others to employ.
Because I often have to install and reinstall this software on
various platforms, I made the decision to create library of sorts
which holds most of this software. In some of my blogs I have done
software reviews in which I talk about what I use and why I use it
and also provide some link between the best of the Windows World as
well as the equivalents in the Open Source World. The event was
therefore a summary of sorts for developers on the technology
landscape with three basic categories and suggestions designed by
team of experienced users.
What can often get
exhausting about these events is the tendency to get into a 'space'
or a 'zone of users' where language become more important and
communication. Where you can find yourselves interacting with your
fellow scientists and alienating new fresh faces whose interest in
technology may be limited but whose engagement you really still need.
So a big thumbs up on the idea behind the event but a suggestion on
the creation of a software or application bank to run in conjunction
with the techradar book. So that I can read about applications as
well as test them for myself (which in these parts brings us back to
the need for more faster and more affordable internet).
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