Nanjira Sambuli (July 2018): "There seems to be growing interest in researching innovation within STS, in academic institutions, as well as by multinational tech companies like Google (setting up an AI lab in Ghana), IBM Research (and their first Africa research centre in Nairobi), Microsoft (setting up a policy innovation centre at the Strathmore University in Kenya), USIU (setting up a social media lab within the university), Facebook (setting up a hub in Nigeria) etc. I think there’s an appreciation that technology innovation needs to be underpinned by micro, nuanced, qualitative insights about the markets within which they unfold, as well as the sustained excitement about the potential of technology innovation and entrepreneurship in Kenya, and the continent at large. The ‘next billion’ adopters are situated in the continent, and it’s a rush to capture that market for various actors."
Anonymous, "Nanjira Sambuli on Future Directions of STS in Africa", contributed by Angela Okune, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 5 August 2018, accessed 23 November 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/nanjira-sambuli-future-directions-sts-africa
Critical Commentary
AO: This excerpt from Nanjira Sambuli's response to the survey related to STS in Africa highlights her thoughts on future directions for STS in Africa and helps to answer the STS Across Borders' analytic question: "How is the future of this STS formation envisioned?"