Latest News & Announcements

Algorand Foundation announces global winners for its $50M blockchain research and education programme

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Nairobi has received a sub-ward of $160,000 to
promote blockchain research and learning at the institution. The main grant of $8 Million was awarded
by the Algorand Foundation to the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University (USA) which
led a consortium consisting of 15 other universities from five continents that will benefit as
subawardees. At the University of Nairobi, the project team is led by Dr. Andrew Kahonge and Dr. Evans

Equity Hackathon

The Hackathon was set to run from the 17th February to 17th March this year and has been phased into 4 stages. The first phase  involve instructor-led and self-paced training of the participants on Microsoft Azure and the Business Problem Statements. In the second stage, the students went  through the coding with mentorship from representatives from Equity, University of Nairobi, Meru University of Science and Technology and Microsoft. Their solutions  then went  through a 1st and 2nd knock off stage, that  culminate in the selection of the 3 winners.

BOOTCAMP WORKSHOP

This is a free workshop dedicated to onboarding University of Nairobi students into the world of building Decentralized Applications for the future of the Web. We will begin with high-level concepts and work out a way to an advanced understanding of blockchain.

The Bootcamp will be held at the Department of Computing and Informatics University of Nairobi, Chiromo Campus.

 

To register https://lu.ma/pnb27o06

Cyber Shujaa Program Launch

 New report reveals that cybercrime and fraud costs soar to KES 15 billion More than 80 percent of Kenyans connected to the Internet are vulnerable to cybercriminal attacks, a new study reveals. The study, titled –The State of Cybersecurity in Kenya which was carried out by cyber security consulting firm Serianu in partnership with PKF consulting and USIU Africa, shows that the vast majority of private companies and public sector organizations also remain very exposed to cybercrime and internal IT fraud.

Fuel Africa Hackathon for University of Nairobi Students

Are you a current University of Nairobi student or recent alumni interested in building impactful solutions to help communities across Africa? Then join Fuel Africa, a 1-week entrepreneurship program and innovation challenge powered by Futurize in partnership with AstraZeneca and Microsoft, and co-funded by Bristol Myers Squibb.

2 Computer Science Students shine at the 2021 Microsoft Hackathon Competition

Christine Wambui Wanjau and Gloria Keya Kaleha were part of the creative force that won The 2021 Microsoft Student Hackathon competition. The four-member team created a rapid response deforestation sensor called Forest Guard powered by Microsoft Azure and IoT Technologies. Christine and Gloria are fourth year students majoring in Computer Science from the Department Science.

Strengthening the local AI ecosystem through an open approach to data set creation

With advancements in technology, governments and other stakeholders are increasingly turning towards AI to support decision-making in various sectors. Natural language processing (NLP) techniques have enabled critical applications to achieve the ability to communicate and be understood in one’s own language. This has been recognized as a prerequisite to digital and societal inclusion in education, finance, healthcare, agriculture, communication, and disaster response.

Innovating and scaling of startups in emerging technology districts in East Africa and The role of ICT in grassroots innovation and entrepreneurship

Emma (originally from Tanzania) works as an expert in innovation and development at the
Finnish Development NGOs Platform in Helsinki, Finland. Her work focuses on promoting the
use of technological solutions among NGOs and supporting Finnish organizations including their
local East African partners in networking, partnerships, and collaborations with other players of
East African innovation ecosystems. She has worked in partnership with many startups
and innovation hubs for 13 years.