What is missing in our Ecosystem-Lessons from Kampala Innovation Week?

We have barely gone seven days since the start and end of Kampala Innovation Week. This is arguably one of the bigger events of its kind in the country. Slated for the 16^th to the 18^th of October at the Kololo Independence Grounds-a facility that usually hosts the Nation’s most distinguished guests. What better venue for the various components of Uganda’s Startup ecosystem.

The Innovation Week is an initiative of Startup Uganda an association that is made up of some of the innovation hubs in the country and was supported by the United Nations Capital development Fund.

Despite the weather which none of the planners could have predicted the event was very well attended with a host of attendees as well as exhibitors and good representation from the government. The ideal ecosystem is made up of many players including government, the education sector, venture capitalists, Non-Governmental Organizations, business people as well as Startups. 

Present was the minister of ICT and National Guidance (Frank Tumwebaze) as well the minister of science technology and innovation (Elioda Tumwesigye). Pulse Lab Kampala (http://unglobalpusle.org) also represented the United Nations with their goal of exploring the opportunities of big data in achieving the development goals. Response Lab (who are partnering with Save the Children both of which are support centers for interested stakeholders who come up with innovations in humanitarian activities), Universities, Startups, Hubs such as Hive Colab, Innovation Village with all its core functions, Andela, a representative from the International Labor Organization, International Trade Center (with a discussion about youth employment). 

Some of the broader themes that were tackled during the Innovation Week were; Innovation and the power of partnerships, job creation, the creation of stronger brands, as well as more locally centered sessions around starting up in Uganda, there were also master classes on building teams, creating social innovations, approaches to new markets.       

The bulk of the work that has gone into the development of the local scene has been patterned around the systems in Silicon Valley, that have major players such as Stanford University (representing the inputs of the education sector), Facebook (technology giants who were once ordinary), venture capitalists (to add financial push), a host of startups either working in the mainstream or developing ideas in other spaces (gig economy), there is also a self-sustaining business to business interaction that recycles or at least creates a creative cycle for business that is self-energizing (businesses that are born in the same valley and that others have to engage with to be successful such as social media based businesses), and governments that are sensitive to the times and that will do anything to make the environment suitable for local and international business and a sector which is perhaps the least explored in our side of the pond which is Media (Hollywood). This final part we see as the last and final push that makes it trendy and that drives others across the world to want to have what you have!

There is much potential in Countries like India and Nigeria which are technology rich but in our view are yet to match their media power with their technology power. 

I was able to sit through the launch of the event and to listen to the keynote speech as well as to hear some of what the two ministers from government spoke of. In addition to that I listened to the first of many testimonials that were given by some the attendees and exhibitors. But nothing gave me as much of a push as a visit to the booths to engage with the participants many of them prominent players in the market as well as lesser known and more fresh faces that represent various parts of the growing industry. These engagements allowed me to go full circle from the part of listening to the founders speak interactions with some of the products that were available on display.

You could say that media was well represented in the sense that most of the event was covered by the local press what we see missing in this space though is a story teller with a wide reach and a local as well as international sense to begin bellowing out our stories of success to the point where our young ones are lining up for opportunities to be like what they see on the screens.