ICT
Makueni launches Ajiry centre; to help youth find well-paying jobs
Nairobi seeks to adopt the Maisha Med Technology system, learns from Makueni.
Governor Mutula Meets ICT PS, roots for ease network connectivity
Makueni County Marks Safer Internet Day
On the 7th February 2023, the county government through the Department of ICT, Education and Internship hosted this years’ Safer Internet day in Makueni. The two day celebration was held in collaboration with Eveminet Communication Solutions Limited, an organization that is a Safer partner with Meta, TikTok and Google in Sub Saharan Africa and operating in the Education and Technology (Ed-Tech) Industry. The theme for this year was ‘Together For a Better Internet’.
The celebrations looked at a series of Online Safety roundtable engagements aimed at showcasing Innovative and Strategic advancements towards protecting children on the online space together with creating awareness and building capacities to all the players within the ecosystem of the child.
Stakeholders from key sectors around the children ecosystem were present with representation from KESSHA, Makueni Students Association, CIC and CTTI officers, students from Wote PWD centre, Ukia,Wote, Kathonzweni CICs and participation of Makueni boys and Ukia girls high schools.
Makueni Tech and Innovation hub wins the innovation hub of the year award
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On the 8th December 2022 Makueni Tech and Innovation hub a project by the County Government, was awarded the National Innovation Award in the category county government innovation hub of the year for the initiative to directly support innovators.
Makueni Tech and Innovation Hub aims to provide an open space for entrepreneurs and programmers to access. It also runs periodical innovation challenges tied closely with addressing local and global challenges. The hub has reached over 1000 through its initiatives geared toward building skills through and not limited to small scale manufacturing.
Some of the initiatives the hub has run in collaboration with its partners include:
- Running of two Innovation challenges that have allowed cross learning with the innovation hubs beyond the county thus serving as a platform for county youth to think solutions for local problems and promotion of technology based ideas
- Providing mentorship and training by reaching the unreached through two editions of the Kids tech bootcamps and Developers bootcamp with focus on encouraging women and young girls from highschools
- Hosted the health innovation fair that would support the department of health realize solutions geared to prioritise and address its needs
- Ran and hosted the regional innovation week a first for the region
- Upskilling in small scale manufacturing through Emerging tech-3D printing, NoCode
- Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit amongst youth in areas of business through Peperusha Maisha and in collaboration with local member hub for supporting women and enabling them digitally.
- Support with funding to the top 10 awardees from the two innovation challenges
- Sensitized the community on the start up bill
- Working with Eco-system stakeholders to support the community such us Konza Technopolis, Communications Authority, University of Central Missouri, Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs, IBM, Cisco, Google, Insight Health Advisors, KIPI and YASA
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DG Mulili challenges youth to embrace innovations
Makueni County links tech systems with KEMSA to ensure health supplies efficiency.
ICT and Development
10,000 Makueni County residents are set to be empowered with ICT skills by global technology giant, Google.
The Makueni beneficiaries are part of 10 million people Google is equipping with relevant ICT skills in Africa in the next three years.
This plan was revealed on Friday by the country director of Google during a ceremony to commission the training which Google will undertake in collaboration with Makueni County government.
“The 10, 000 people set to be equipped with various ICT skills include the 1,500 people who have already studied basic computer skills under the county government’s Tusomeei Computer Nduani programme,” deputy Govenor Adelina Mwau said while welcoming Google.
Governor Kivutha Kibwana thanked Google for choosing Makueni as the first county where the program will start.
“The online space creates tremendous job opportunities which can be tapped to address youth unemployment. We shall work with Google to make Makueni a model county on ICT enabled job opportunities”, Kibwana said.
Makueni to pilot Telemedicine health provision
By Onesmus Nzioka
Makueni has yet again made enviable strides in its healthcare provision by venturing into Telemedicine.
Telemedicine is the remote delivery of healthcare services, such as health assessments or consultations over the telecommunications infrastructure.
The program, launched at Thange Africa Brotherhood Church, Thange ward, is a brainchild of the ABC church through the National Council of Churches of Kenya in partnership with the government of Makueni County.
The program, dubbed Comprehensive Community Healthcare Initiative (CCHI), was unveiled by ABC Archbishop in charge of East Africa Timothy Ndambuki and governor Kivutha Kibwana on Wednesday.
The program entails a mobile internet linked multi diagnosis kit based at Thange and doctors based at the Makueni County Referral Hospital, who are linked into the system through installed software on their side.
The system is both web and android based such that enlisted doctors will get alerts of booked cases from the remote health centre on their mobile phones as per their schedules of assigned duties.
Patients will walk into the Thange health facility, their diagnosis carried out by a resident nurse and the results relayed in real time to the doctors who will then analyze and prescribe the proper medication to be administered by the nurse at Thange.
For complicated cases, the system enlisted doctors will be able to seek further consultations from more qualified doctors across the globe on behalf of their patients.
Patients will also have a face-to-face consultation with the doctors, through teleconferencing, who will then direct the resident nurse(s) on what tests to carry out.
Governor Kibwana has directed the county health department to dedicate a unit for the telemedicine program on a 24-hour basis to make it work.
County Health Executive Andrew Mulwa has announced that all the county level 4 hospitals will be linked into the program so as to address a broad range of health services.
According to Archbishop Ndambuki, the program will be rolled out in the whole of Ukambani under the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB) if it succeeds in Makueni.
The program is enabled by a digital communication network and applications provider registered in Kenya under the name DIGLOSO run by a US based Kenyan named John Musau.
Makueni has officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the company for extensive roll out of the program.