Discover more with every click
The entire map is now interactive. Clicking anywhere will focus the map on that location and show you helpful things, like related places and the best ways to get there.

From outer space down to the streets, the new Google Maps gathers all the imagery of a location into one spot, making it easy to explore your world from every angle.

Find the best way there
You can now compare multiple modes of transportation right on the map to find the best way there and the best way home.

A map that gets better with use
As you search the map, star places you like and leave reviews, the map starts to adapt and can suggest things like restaurants you might enjoy or the quickest way home. In other words, the more you use the new Google Maps, the more helpful it becomes.

Not only in the West are startups taking on the behemoths across major industry verticals but we are starting to see the trend in Africa, where hitherto protected cash cows are being milked by the underdog thanks to lowered barriers of entry courtesy of technology. Having consulted for a number of listed companies on deployable value adding technology, it has become apparent that a certain rigor mortis hits the organizations on the innovation front as soon as they list.

The biggest challenge facing the executives at these companies is that of processes, policies and governance; that while key to running big or listed companies actually stifle innovation. I have opined at my various interactions that these companies should seriously think of having off shoot companies – startups to say it plainly who will benefit from a research and development budget from big brother. These outfits will play in the innovation ecosystems well and ensure that big brother is up to speed on trends and better still afford the opportunity to quickly built out prototype services in stealth in response to market stimuli that may indicate a shift in market preferences and consumption patterns.

The terms of engagement can be flexible too, if the option of a pseudo independent startup is frowned upon. Research and development partnerships can be forged with established development houses that have full fire hose access to data from big brother under a retainer and revenue share deal that allows for innovation on a budget; as issues of human resource and day to day operations are done away with.

Also with numerous hubs and labs springing across the continent; a well thought out partnership will give companies access to both feelers and a working talent group. The feelers will give a pulse on industry trends with ready talent for rapid build outs made available by the labs, who are open to new models for revenue generation to ensure sustainability for their programs.

There is no acceptable excuse for a corporation to lose its edge and ability to innovate based on its given the different models available.

The journey to educating a client on what is takes to deploy a system, is wrought with humor and in equal measure misunderstanding. Misunderstanding because the exchange of value begins at the moment of engagement and not at the point of deployment which is where most client minds are docked. It is imperative that any software development company have a well thought out engagement pipeline that will deliver value to them – usually monetary and their clients – by way of a deployed system or knowledge transfer.

We subscribe to a three (sometimes four) phased process that borrows heavily from the agile methodology practice. Working with high level descriptions, our first phase is a needs mapping exercise. While a client may have sent an RFP or brief, experience has shown many times those documents are a copy, paste, modify affair . This phase allows for a structured needs discovery workflow that will prevent or minimize scope creep and ensure we keep on time and on budget. Design thinking plays a central role in this phase.

The second phase covers system architecture where research on the best tools and stacks that will deployed in the building of the platform is done. Justification for all choices should be given. The output from this is a comprehensive breakdown of the technology used and deployed, with a matrix that will show the value proposition of each. Remember, it’s a solution we are after and not a technology showcase.

We don’t look at the build out period as a phase in itself but bundle it as a final phase alongside deployment, documentation and training as they happen concurrently.

A key component of this lifecycle is that of support and maintenance, and its value is calculated as a percentage of the whole project applied annually inline with a service level agreement that must form part of the project documentation. Many clients would wish to skimp on this bit, and many solution providers would oblige, much to the detriment of the business relationship as needs and technology changes, without a framework to manage the change.

The simplicity that a client requires on the front, is supported by complexity in the back and it pays to both apply and understand the process that prevents chaos and loss of value in the longrun.

Nairobi, has become the tech hub of Africa, a niche that could be worth more than one billion dollars to the country in the next three years despite its 40% unemployment rate. Kenya is throwing all their eggs in the tech basket as they build a multi-billion dollar infrastructure in the form of a “Techno City” that will support 200,000. (Source: Bloomberg)

Listers,
It is an open secret that my departure from the Ministry of Information and Communications is imminent.  As seconds, minutes and days tick by; I take this opportunity to bid you all farewell.

During the last seven years that I have worked here, I have learned a lot from you all. I could not have benefited from the learning experience without your constant support, criticism and encouragement.  If I have to do it all over again, I would not change anything to perform my duties well. In my position as Permanent Secretary, I have gained considerable
knowledge and thus I shall always cherish this, as one of the most satisfying phases in my career.

Further, I have shared a special bond with all of you both virtually and in reality.  I shall take away with me special memories of our time together. I remain committed to ideals of Kictanet and would remain active in its deliberations.  I must admit that I may have underestimated the amount of pressure there is to aspire for a job.  There are politicians
from my county trying to create a wedge between myself, Dr. Matian’gi and Hon. Nyachae.  Others from other parts of the country can be summed as extortionists and possible toll collectors at every level.  I shall however, take the interview on Thursday and if fate has it that I shall once more serve my country then I shall proudly do so.

It is now my singular honour to introduce Dr. Fred Matian’gi, our Cabinet Secretary nominee whom I have had the privilege of knowing for the past many years.  While I was in Standard 7, Dr. Matian’gi had just started standard 1 at Manga Primary School.  His sister Margaret was my classmate. I have known him as an honest person and devout Seventh Day Adventist. He has an impeccable record of integrity having served in several governance programs.

Dr. Matian’gi is a fast learner and has extensively published.  We taught at University of Nairobi together and his record as a lecturer was faultless.  We simply have a great mind to steer our sector. I want to take the earliest opportunity to wish him the best. Although Dr. Matian’gi is a good friend, it will not be practical for us to work together.  The constitution demands diversity.  We shall create fodder for politicians to drive further wedge between us.  I have chosen friendship and will look for alternative areas to serve my country.

Let me therefore wish each one of you the very best in all of our future endeavors.
Bitange Ndemo.

In the past I made mention of a project dubbed “Drop a Lab”, that was essentially a precursor to Pasha Centers that carried tremendous private sector backing in ‘05, that proposed the use of Posta’s real estate to jumpstart the initiative. Posta with its VSat connected hubs was present even in every nook that mattered when thinking about widest possible reach for a service line that was to scale rapidly to become commercially viable. The buy in from PCK was not forthcoming, at least not in the intensity that was expected, and with the departure of the government champion for the project, by way of head hunt to Rwanda, the big picture quickly fizzled and private sector went back to minding their own business.

Come in money transfers and PSK could have arguably given Mpesa a good run and offered compelling service. Yes, there was that big issue of fraud that was tied to matters politics and all, but that could have been fixed better. The rebirth of the PostaPay service left a lot to be desired in my opinion from an innovation stand point. By way of simple service extension, they could have easily be powering pan-african mobile money services that mobile network operators have been trying to replicate following the success of Safaricom’s flagship financial services product.

With an increase in internet penetration, more consumers are purchasing goods and services online. The service delivery part is well attended to, but goods still lack that last mile solution. Online services like Jumia, Glamour and the now defunct Kalahari all faced and have tried to address the last mile problem. With a slight pivot to their business, PCK could easily offer this logistical solution and add even more value with a direct to home offering, slowing bridging the gap caused by lack of a proper address system in Kenya.

This pivot needs to happen now, and it will need fresh leadership at the PCK to deliver the promise.

He’s got $300 million to spend every year to find and help develop the next big thing.

Our journey thus far has seen us achieve much and while from a measurement of  hard dollar value we may not match up to the Silicon Valley , that does not diminish our efforts at growing sustainable technology based businesses. Technology and its rapidly changing nature never gives any promises, and any entrepreneur  using technology either to provide services to others or to gain competitive advantage is perpetually on toes, no security of usage tenure is guaranteed.

This is why we should celebrate our milestones and mini successes even as the main aim remains that of attaining  a dominant global position as a birth place of innovative ideas just as we are the cradle of mankind.

We must also in this respect understand the dynamics under which we operate  in Kenya and in Africa as a whole. Without the luxury of capital to burn through at blazing fast rates and vanity metrics of numbers with no revenue. The access to capital is fast changing, but the expectation remains the same; make the numbers and return or the plug is pulled. It is what I call the dance of death.

Today I celebrate Ken Njoroge, who having entered an industry  at its infancy faced a myriad of challenges  to emerge a leader in mobile commerce, Mike Macharia of Seven Seas for daring to take on the enterprise market at a young age and building a solid brand, Kamal Budhabhatti of Craft Silicon  for proving that creative and mental capital of which we have in plenty is sufficient  to take you places. This list is not conclusive in any way; as there are many technology entrepreneurs not in the limelight , with big ambitions and slowly inching their way up while running solid businesses with two  metrics that resonate with anyone in the business of value creation – revenue and profits, firmly within their sights.

Going forward we need to cement the ecosystem that will allow for more and more of these types to emerge, with a focus on process and output. Quality has no identity, it is free for all those who seek to apply it. And if we do it right, and consistently, then our place on the global map will be secured.

We are not Silicon Valley and we have no desire to be. We will however celebrate our own, scratch our own itch and where possible share the same with the rest of the world.