Anyone Anywhere: Narrating African Innovation In A Global Community Of Practice

The last eight years have seen rapid growth in the number of technology startups emerging in urban centers around Africa, from Lagos to Nairobi to Bamako. The growth of annual investments in African startups – rising from $12 million to$560 million between 2013 and 2017 (Kazeem, 2018) – is an indication that many, including investors abroad, believe the trend in African involvement in international technology innovation practices is just beginning. Yet while these changes are promising, this dissertation encourages critical reflection on them and asks: To what extent are Africans really able to fully participate in the production of the new technologies shaping their experiences of the modern information economy? To attempt to answer this, from 2013 to 2016 I conducted an ethnography of one of the centers of innovation in Africa that has received the most media attention, a “technology hub” based in Nairobi, Kenya called the iHub. I spent a year as a participant observer on the iHub’s communications team, conducted numerous focus groups, site visits to other tech hubs, participated in dozens of events and interviewed over 80 members of Nairobi’s tech community. With this data, I built an analytical lens that brings a critical communications perspective to communities of practice theory. By integrating narrative theory, this lens draws attention to the potential for conflict and hierarchies of legitimacy in transnational communities built around shared practices. In the pages that follow, I argue that the actors around the iHub are engaged in a Global Community of Technology Innovators in which their participation, and the community’s larger narratives are mutually constructed. One such narrative about how “Anyone Anywhere” in the world can become a successful technology entrepreneur helped attract Kenyan entrepreneurs, while others restricted their ability to be taken serious, often leading to their being pigeonholed as “social entrepreneurship”. By the end of 2016, the discrepancy between narratives and lived experiences led many to reject certain global practices – like the pressure on startups to scale globally – and focus instead on building a Kenyan community in which they had greater legitimacy and power to construct narratives and shape future practices

Forces of Change: Silicon Valley\u27s Developing Relationship with American Government

Silicon Valley has increased its political engagement over the past decade, and is becoming an increasingly powerful force in government. It defies traditional affiliation labels, and behaves differently than other industries. It embodies a blend of altruism and self-interest, which guides its interactions with government and its intentions in affecting policy changes. In order to better understand Silicon Valley\u27s political life, this thesis outlines a brief history of its development, and then delves into three policy issues: education reform, immigration reform and encryption and security. This focus allows for an up-close, detailed look at the multi-faceted relationship between Silicon Valley and the government

“Five Plus Two” skills set and success of young art entrepreneurs : a case study of seven visual artists / Dr Abdul Rahim Said

This article aims at showcasing the design, development and implementation of a Young Art Entrepreneurs (YAE) career development scheme for visual artists, based on a model of “five plus two” entrepreneurial skills sets, advanced by Marco Thom (2016). It documents the philosophy, approach and methodology to develop entrepreneurship skills amongst seven young graduate artists over a period of six months. Findings based on an analysis of seven case studies of individual artists involved in the First Cohort of YAE in 2017, indicate that those who are able to better internalize the “five plus two” skill sets, seem to show a greater chance of success in launching and managing their own art enterprises

The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America

As the United States slowly emerges from the great recession, a remarkable shify is occurring in the spatial geogrpahy of innovation. For the past 50 years, the landscape of innovation has been dominated by places like Silicon Valley - suburban corridors of spatially isolated corporate campuses, accessible only by car, with little emphasis on the quality of life or on integrating work, housing, and recreation. A new complementary urban model is now emerging, giving rise to what we and others are calling "innovation districts." These districts, by our definition, are geographic areas where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators, and accelerators. They are also physically compact, transit-accessible, and technicall

Alternative Internet Networks: History and Legacy of a "Crazy Idea"

International audienc

Challenge-based learning as a practice for engineering education to develop students' entrepreneurial mindset

This paper aims to investigate the implications of Challenge Based Learning programs on entrepreneurial skills, mindset and intentions of university students using a quantitative approach. Using an original database, we analyzed pre and post levels of entrepreneurial skills, mindset and intention of 127 students who attended a Challenge Based Learning program. Results show a positive and significant effect of Challenge Based Learning programs on entrepreneurial mindset and skills – such as financial literacy, creativity and planning – of the students. Moreover, results show a positive but non-significative effect on entrepreneurial intention

Work and sociality in Brighton's new media industry

This study explores the relationships that form among practitioners in the new media industry – focussing on a particular locale, Brighton, UK. An aim is to understand the meanings that work and peer relationships have for practitioners. Another is to explore how peer relationships affect practitioners’ careers. Through the use of qualitative methods – semi-structured and unstructured interviews, and ethnographic observation – the research highlights the importance of locality and of interaction in shaping the meanings and practices around work and sociality in the new media industry. Drawing on Bourdieu’s ideas on field, habitus and capital it is suggested that the meanings practitioners attach to work are reflected in the aspirations inscribed in their habitus and the position they occupy within a geographically specific new media field. It is also suggested that social relationships among peers are constructed through interaction within Brighton’s new media community where personal biographies, industrial and local cultures structure and reproduce each other. The importance of interpreting practices within intersections of fields, in which people are embedded, is also emphasised. Drawing on Goffman’s ideas on the social organisation of co-presence, the logic of the new media field and the strategies that practitioners utilise – which are reflected in the ways practitioners manage their personal preserves inside a co-working organisation – is described. How career opportunities differ based on the position people occupy in the industry and how the use of different types of capitals effect career changes is also demonstrated. This study contributes to the research literature on the clustering of new media industries, to research looking at work and employment in the new media industry and, finally, to the literature on the networking practices of new media practitioners

M4D: how the mobile phone becomes a tool for development Focus on the Republic of Kenya

This paper gives a glance into Africa's mobile revolution and what it represents, for not only is the mobile phone leading to a transformation of the technological landscape but also of African society as a whole, as well as its economy. The paper tells the story of how the mobile phone empowers Africans to tackle their development challenges, acting as an enabler to find innovative and locally relevant solutions to long-standing issues. It highlights the mobile phone's impact on Africa's important economic sectors of health, education and agriculture, as well as finance -through mobile money. Focusing on Kenya, one of Africa's most advanced countries in terms of information and communication technologies, illustrates the mobile revolution's full extent, with its opportunities and its challenges