By The Weekly Vision Team
Zetech University is one of the institutions of higher learning that is seeking to be allowed to host digital ICT hubs in the country. The university intends to use the facility to empower Kiambu County youths technologically by training them at their state-of-the-art technological labs, according to the university Vice Chancellor, Professor Njenga Munene.
The institution seeks to partner with the local government to train and equip youngsters with technological skills to facilitate their employment. Munene noted that millions of educated youths only require extra digital skills to begin earning from the numerous local and global employers ready to tap the talented workforce.
The country continues to position itself at the forefront of Africa’s Business Process Outsourcing sector (BPO) by rolling out digital hubs. “Between 2019-2021, we used to train youngsters under the presidential digital program. We used to train them on how to best make good use of their computers to earn. The program saw many secure employment opportunities, and as an institution, we now seek to partner with the country to digitally empower youths in Kiambu County. We want the county to support the youth in this, as it is the only way we can create jobs for the desperate youths roaming around without jobs,” said Munene.
Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Kirika has also challenged the university to also digitally empower businesspersons to upscale their operations. “As they train our youths, I have also challenged them to train our local entrepreneurs to digitally transform their enterprises for enhanced profits and to align with the current technology. We need our businesspeople to know that the use of technology is healthy in their operations. By knowing that, enterprises will be able to form digital and ICT departments, which will also create jobs,” said the deputy governor.
Construction of hubs is included in Kenya’s Digital Masterplan 2022-2032, which governs the systematic delivery of ICT infrastructure, services, and skill development. It also provides the country with a 10-year strategy for ICT projects to help investors determine their priorities.
It lists 19 key initiatives on which the government will focus to advance the country’s digital transformation. So far, tens of Jitume Hubs have been opened, an initiative that Members of Parliament continue to fast-track to enhance digital literacy among the youth.
The government seeks to have ICT hubs in all 1450 wards in the country, with Digital Superhighway being one of the key pillars of the Kenya Kwanza administration development plan as championed in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). President William Ruto’s government seeks to scale up its investments in the relevant infrastructure, including the national broadband and digital hubs, to create jobs for at least one million digital workers in the next five years.
