President Ruto to launch AI-powered green hub tomorrow

President William Ruto. [Standard, File]

President William Ruto will launch the Green Digital Innovation Hub on Tuesday, a centre that will foster green and digital transitions in agriculture, ICT and energy sectors.

The hub is powered by artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing and is aimed at supporting the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises sector, the lifeblood of Kenya’s economy.

Ruto was speaking during the official opening of the 2023 Kenya Innovation Week Commonwealth Edition, which is being held at the College of Insurance Kenya in Nairobi.

The event brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and academics from Kenya and the Commonwealth countries to showcase and celebrate innovations that are transforming lives and creating opportunities.

The president said that the hub is part of his vision to transform the country into a globally competitive knowledge-based economy driven by innovation.

He said that the government has invested $132 million for the 2022–2023 Financial Year to scale up ICT infrastructure and promote service delivery innovation in the public sector.

“We are also entrenching a culture of service delivery innovation in the public sector in order to improve the uptake of modern tools and approaches, including design thinking, behavioural science, and data-driven strategies to promote excellence and leverage modern tools to promote public sector effectiveness and efficiency,” he said.

The Head of State added that the government is also collaborating with international partners to establish a strong capacity for the Emerging Technologies Institute and Action Lab, a multi-stakeholder initiative to promote governance in the AI space.

“In partnership with the UK’s AI Safety Institute and the US AI Safety body, we are collaborating in establishing a strong capacity for the Emerging Technologies Institute and Action Lab, which is a multi-stakeholder initiative between the government, the private sector, and our innovators to promote governance of the AI space,” he said.

He announced that the government has inaugurated the Presidential Innovation Award, which will recognize the most promising innovations during the Jamhuri Day celebrations.

He encouraged innovators to participate and wished them success in their development and pitching.

 “I express deep gratitude to the British Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, who have complemented our endeavour to strengthen the capacity of our institutions of higher learning in promoting entrepreneurial potential through the Kenya Network of Entrepreneurial Institutions,” he said.

President Ruto said the award will consider submissions from all counties in the areas of food security and agriculture, digital transformation, healthcare, entertainment and gaming, climate action, and green energy.