The statistics
Over the next 10 years
it is estimated that there will be 1.4 million jobs in IT and computer sciences, and only around
400,000 graduates qualified to do them. This catchy statistic made me smile at myself
and thump my chest Saying, “What a smart person I was to be in the IT related
profession”. We
are living in an age of unparalleled digital disruption, with massive amounts
of technology-driven change, huge innovation, and significant evolution in the
ways people use technology.
According to
The Global Information Technology Report 2015, over 12 billion devices are
connected to the Internet, and that number is expected to increase to over 20
billion by 2020. These connections provide more data for better decision-making
and improve the way governments, businesses, and individuals operate. I
count myself lucky to be in this generation of techies witnessing the digital
disruption and being part and parcel of it.
The nostalgia
Yes I am excited and
lucky, so I count myself. My first interaction with an electronic device was
when I was seven years old. Feel free to guess what it was and how thrilled I
was. It was a neighbor’s radio jukebox .The question which flooded my mind was:
“How did those singing guys get inside that small box?” The second device was
Gameboy, then I graduated to brick game. My biggest question was how does this
thing work? where do the bricks come
from? Why can’t they come out? Few times I opened inside to see if I could see
the bricks. To my surprise there were only wires and circuit boards. I thought
radio would be different, but to my surprise, same things (wires and all) filled
all these machines. Of course, the radio was different because its inside was
also filled with pregnant cockroaches breeding inside.
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| Simbi and Alego primary school pupils at WespeakCodeKE event in Homabay County |
As the curiosity grew, I started repairing my friend’s
radios, with reference of course to the working ones, and it was trial and
error and copying the arrangement of different components within the circuits.
I was born in town so I count myself lucky. Probably by now I know you are wondering, “why
the narrative?”. Well, wonder no more.
The moment of learning
Over the weekend, I was part of a team of
volunteers from Maseno University, Lakehub, JKUAT and Masinde Muliro University
at #WeSpeakCodeKE in remote parts of Homabay county Kenya. Teaching less-privileged kids how to use
computer, Introducing digital literacy to them. -It was their first time to see
a computer, let alone touch it. I thought I was giving them my skills, but deep
down I was receiving much more. I was sharing their stories and humbleness. It was
so peaceful and fulfilling. After 3 days 600 kids learnt the basics of
programming. They could define what a computer is, interact with it and code a
simple computer game. Then we had lots of fun, with the volunteering team.
but deep down I was
receiving much more. I was sharing their stories and humbleness. It was so
peaceful and fulfilling. After 3 days 600 kids learnt the basics of programming.
They could define what a computer is, interact with it and code a simple
computer game. Then we had lots of fun, with the volunteering team.
The codes
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| Moses Oiro Lead at Lakehub directing pupils on how to code during WespeakcodeKe event |
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| Pupils at school kids at Alego primary school in Homabay learning how to Code |
Accounting my experience, I could count
myself very lucky at my childhood having interacted with at least an electronic
device at that early age. But again the kids who are undergoing #Villagecode
and #WespeakCodeKE programs are amongst the luckiest kids in the entire
sub-Saharan Africa. “If only I had such an opportunity at my early age, I would
be a better programmer than I am today”. So I said to myself.
With ICTs
contributing to global economic growth, developing regions have experienced a
steady decline in absolute poverty. The global extreme poverty rate (those
individuals surviving on less than $1.25/day) has dropped from 1.9 billion
people in 1981 to 1.3 billion in 2010 according to the World Bank: a drop in
extreme poverty rates from greater than 50 percent to 21 percent. This decline
in extreme poverty has been driven by long-run recent growth across Africa.
To maintain a
steady flow of workforce and development in different regions of Kenya and
globally, IT and Computer science driven uptake programs like these ones are very essential,
in sparking the kid’s curiosity. These
programs provide greater economic opportunities for individual Kids and build a
pipeline of innovators for the future workforce. These programs purpose to
create a community of technology developers rather than consumers.