Of bees and yellow jackets

This week in Uganda we have just come to the end of an intense and exhaustive swarm summit. In the meantime the french are seeing a decrease in the numbers that were present for a rush of protests that have been dubbed the yellow jacket protests. The hive summit is not about bees but it is aptly named and falls in line with the ideas of one of the co-founders TMS Ruge and the Hive Colab, Uganda's oldest technology related hub. We are clumping these two events together because the yellow jacket although in this case a luminescent item of clothing is also the name of a nasty six winged insect that is often busy searching for sweet things but also capable of delivering a series of unfortunate and repeated stings. Not to far away from France at least in terms of language, the Canadians have arrested an important piece in the Huawei Management team for alleged collaboration with the Iranians at a time when they were meant to be under sanctions. Canada has bowed to American pressure and arrested the Chinese Resident of a wealthy global brand at a time when the whole world is cautiously wondering about the effects of a war in trade. 

This is the background at least in a global sense in which our local discussion are taking place. A national leader in our range of sight (agewise) is at the helm in France but a section of the citizenry are having none of it. A global brand whose software and hardware are at the core of many of our activities in Africa is being challenged by what some may view is an economically jilted lover. 

Two days were given to us within which to handle a wide range of topics and an even broader set of themes. We tackled Finance and Technology, Agriculture and Technology, We talked about Taxation with a local emphasis, we merged Government and Technology, Health and Technology with special regard for both hardware and software implementations, the Education Sector and it's intersection with Technology as well as the bigger broader question of Funding and Investment.

You had two major groups that were in the building. Government, Citizenry and the Private Sector. Some of our struggles were about trying to find a clear distinction between the fine line between citizen and government with references to definitions of democracy and the sensitivities about participation and role of governments and states as those that hold the certain instruments of power both legislative and coercive. 

While defining Private Sector we found that there were strictly about two major groups that we were dealing with, first old school private sector practitioners such as business people and then non government organizations. These two had categories: mainly local and then international. Even those that we deemed as national or local seemed to exist on the whole or in part because of Funding that was not necessarily local. 

All discussions that were created eventually wound up talking about money and invariably questioning the relationship between local and international Funds. The only area where one would have attempted a separation was in civic tech but this too was 'foreign' because at some point the discussion about good governance and technology ended up needing to go abroad for examples or case studies. 

An interesting topic of discussion from the start was the lack of representation from women who are easily at the core of almost all the major topics that were discussed in the panels. In the African 

Context she is Financial Controller, Farmer, Manager of Relations between Children (citizens) and Father (state), She is Chief Physician, Educator as well as Potential Financier with her endless streams of cash which she either saves or is able to quickly raise from her endless group of connections. 

Relationships, Research, Rolex and Rolodex.

Today I attended a networking event dubbed #LanReloaded the event was held at Hive Colab offices. This is one of the oldest Innovation and Incubation spaces in the country having started way back around 2009. I know this because I used to interact with some of the team members when they would meet at Good Africa Coffee to make use of the amazing Internet Speeds that were available at the Up Market Restaurant and Coffee shop located at Lugogo Mall. 

The LAN Reloaded events in the last few months have Been going through a sort of revival and enjoying a resurgence of attendees both individuals and companies alike. The last three major events have been hosted by leading companies and government organizations such as NITA, Liquid Telecom and Huawei. This week we had two sponsors for the event Fuzu a leading employment and recruitment group that has made its own waves In the Innovation and startup-rich environment of Kampala, Uganda. And Next Einstein Forum that is working to get Africa centered on Technology and Science. 

The event as have been many of these in the past few months is taking place in an environment whose political tensions have the country at a standstill and in a state of tension. Everyone in the political space is holding their cards close and all news and activity is often magnified, amplified and then dispersed. The tech scene has not been spared but thankfully the leadership team at least form this side of my view seems to be fighting hard to keep everything strictly apolitical. Hard task considering how broad the definition of politics I personally subscribe to is. 

The scene is alive and active and buzzing with networking activity. Some are more expressive than others. Some are more reserved and calculating others are placing their bets and making their cash. Buildings on this side of Ntinda are going up fast and being filled at the same rate. This Is fast becoming a rival to any major technology sensitive city and now the place to be. The conversations I will engage in will be intense moving back and forth between Technology, Curriculum Development, University Education, Change Management, Career Path Choices, STEM, Science and it's Appreciation, Sector Development Practice, China, Japan, OPEC and loads more. Today though the focus is on Science week and the Next Einstein Forum as well as the work that is being done by Fuzu in creating a platform that can simplify the process by which we hire and find talent. 

The catering is great as is the setting. A lot of growth has taken place. The venue is large and consists of two massive rooms. The view of the city is breathtaking. By now the traffic has ceased and the cities nighttime residents are trading places with their less nocturnal colleagues. Those sipping soft and less than soft drinks will do so with some relaxation and possible business opportunity. The wraps (life changing) were supplied by Roll whose motto " Pimp My Rollex" was just as attractive if not more than the meal itself. It's young and vibrant team will sleep well knowing they just fed some of the city's finest technology minds as they wait to one up their first restaurant. 

For those who do not know, the Rolex is our version of the famous watch except we make it using tortilla like flour rolls which are wrapped in fried eggs with a mixture of tomatoes and onions. The pimped Rolex would therefore be a Rolex on overdrive or 'steroids'.