Newvision is blocking innovation in Uganda

People that have been following my posts can understand my passion for igniting innovation in the country. I believe the technological innovation pipelines in the country are clogged and the intention of my writings is to unclog them.

Innovation is a characteristic of every successful industry and for that reason organizations in competitive economies dedicate huge sums of their revenues to it in order to remain relevant.

Innovation is what separates an Italian fashion designer from a tailor in Kiyembe. The tailor has mastered the skills to create a 'functional' suit but lacks the creativity and resourcefulness (innovation) to create an amazing suit.

In the end, the growth of the fashion industry in the country is blocked because the lack of innovation in Kiyemba has defined a standard of average products. The masses who are the consumers have no reason to spend money purchasing a high quality suit from a creative local designer because they can get it cheaply from Kiyembe.

Overtime, the creative fashion designer is forced to conform to the standard of average products to cover the living and operating expenses. The experiences from the fashion industry can shed a light on the technology industry.

Newvision is the biggest online enterprise in the country receiving millions of visitors every month. You might ask, how does that block innovation in the country? The key decision makers in the country are mostly ignorant about technology. Their decisions in allocating money can either promote technological innovation or hinder it.

When many of those decision makers think about a website, Newvision comes to mind. But there is one problem, Newvision has a very poor website considering their position. Web design services have created jobs for thousands of Ugandans and I personally in my S.6 vacation made my first million from them.

But most of the web designers in the country do not even deserve the title due to their reliance on templates which create an incongruence between brands and their websites.

The problem the creative web designer faces is similar to the one faced by the creative fashion designer. The client to whom they are selling lacks the understanding to appreciate innovation. In the end the resources will be allocated to the individual with insider connections or the one with a better price.

And overtime, in order to the keep the lights running, the creative web designer will be forced to visit ThemeForest, pick up an okay template, plaster the brand logo onto it and move to the next one.

What is the cost? Innovation is blocked because average has become the accepted standard. To redefine the standard, online enterprises like Newvision have to lead.

PS: In a family, the first born is punished more than the last because they have a greater influence on other siblings.

Yours Truly,
Tech Kojja
(Felix Kitaka)

Make $38 million or impact 38 million lives

"Is the glass half empty or half full?"

We are born with no purpose and the entire journey of life is meant to expose us. The way we perceive the world is completely a result of our education, both formal and informal.

Who is teaching the innovators in this country? The answer is the blogs, videos and expatriates from the west. This is a sensitive issue and I request your open mindedness to realize that I do not intend to attack the west. In all honesty, the west ought to be applauded for providing the information that was absent in our country.

To understand the challenge, we have to realize that the western educator has a different context. Amazon sells convenience as a service and has enough customers to guarantee it billions of dollars in sales revenue. Compare that to Uganda where over 80% of the population lives in rural areas.

Google has built an online advertising empire on the foundation of internet penetration in their home country. Compare that to our country where even the people on Facebook are ignorant of the internet.

We need to realize the our nation has a different context from Silicon Valley. Instead of copying and pasting their theories, we should instead use them as foundations for defining our own.

The beauty of our society is that; even when born in the city, one still has relatives in the rural areas. Before we think about creating the killer innovation that will earn us a fortune, let us create one that will impact the lives of our relatives in the villages.

The more people get connected to the internet, the bigger the market for our innovations. Instead of whining about the low numbers, we could dedicate our skills to improving them.

You have knowledge and skills that can be valuable to someone, the outcome is dependent on how you choose to allocate those limited resources. Will you plant your knowledge and skills where you can earn $38 million or where you can impact 38 million lives?

Yours Truly
Felix Kitaka
(Tech Kojja)

Betting in Uganda's tech innovation community

Through my journey as a tech innovator in the country, I have witnessed a couple of young innovators winning prize money and countless others losing.

Whereas in Silicon Valley innovators might be aiming to take their companies public, in Uganda we are aiming at winning prize money.

The psychology concept of a carrot and a stick should not be foreign to us. The world over, people have been motivated with carrot-prizes. But I would like us to think about the opportunity cost.

The success stories in technology world-over have been an outcome of focus. Individuals have focused their resources on a specific vision.

The different competitions with prizes have planted a betting spirit in the young innovators. The mindset of a bettor, is the opposite of focus. The bettor believes that one day they will be lucky. They are constantly in the pursuit of luck.

In the background, the competitions could be a result of meetings between people intent on sparking technological innovation in the country. Whereas the short term results can easily be seen, the long term results need foresight.

If we really want to spark technological innovation in the country, let us change the reward. Instead of rewarding the innovator that creates a solution just for the possibility of the win, let us reward the one that has been most focused.

Let our young innovators carry 50 year visions instead of 3 month visions. Let them see their ability to transform the nation with their minds, instead of just seeing their ability to win prize money with their minds.

"Akakyama amamela wokagolora, omenya kamenye"

Yours Truly
Felix Kitaka
(Tech Kojja)

F# Business Models: Lets Innovate

There is a popular scenario which I have personally experienced. A passionate young person imagined a beautiful application and took time to express it into the real world. On demonstrating it to an individual that has neither imagined nor expressed a product in the real world but has read countless blogs, the first question they receive is, 'what is your business model?'

Let us analyze the psychological impact of such a question. The young person was going through life and imagined a possibility. She took the time to meditate upon it and patiently brought it into the world in the form of a mobile application.

Whereas others see a developer, I see a parent that has brought a child into the world. The relationship a mother has with a child cannot be taken lightly. To ask her for a business model is similar to asking a mother what she will feed her child.

The women that hawk fruits on the streets of Kampala at the risk of imprisonment reveal the power of a child. They do not go through the inconveniences just to make money, they endure to provide for their children.

Countless young people have aborted their children because the elders of the tech community have rated them on a wrong standard. The question they might have never considered before, has now shot doubt through their walls of confidence.

As a way forward, I would like to suggest a new question, 'What is your vision?'

Hearing is easy, but listening is hard. We overestimate our intellect when we attempt to understand the minds of these young innovators in just a few minutes. Eloquence might not be their natural gift but given patience they can take you into their world.

In their world, you will see what they see. You will understand their motivation; whether its money or legacy. You will see the facts and assumptions, the strengths and weaknesses. In that moment, you will see your relevance in their visions.

Steve Jobs saw a bicycle for our minds and Mark Zuckerberg saw a social graph; none of them began by seeing business models. Study the people we have come to celebrate, and you will discover two things; vision and passion.

Investors and MBA graduates will all come to you because 'provision follows vision'. It is from that understanding that I say, 'F# business models'.

Your Truly
Felix Kitaka
(Tech Kojja)

Order in Uganda's technology scene

"The silent man still suffers wrong."

Silence is a beautiful position as no one can be judged on what was never said. However, silence and inaction are bold statements. What an oxymoron, for one to claim to be proudly Ugandan, and not vote?

The current state of Uganda's technology scene has partially been an outcome of silence. The silence has left the leaders shielded from the consequences of their actions and inactions.

The conclusions Daniel made in his post might not be wholly agreeable, but his leadership in breaking out of the silence to start the conversation, ought to be applauded.

Unfortunately, his leadership has mostly been met by reactions instead of responses, from individuals acting as officially appointed guardians of the status-quo.

The preservation of the status-quo is an insult to innovation. The heart of innovation lies in out of the box thinking. The individuals hammering the outliers thinking differently into conformity, are actually destroying the industry they intend to support.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Lastly, the silent should speak out and those reacting should respond deliberately without bias.