Strathmore Holds Its Inaugural Alumni Connect

Strathmore University held its inaugural Strathmore Alumni Connect. Themed 4th Industrial Revolution: Innovating for Social Good, was held at the main campus with a mission to boost technology use for the future and help the future generation successfully use technology to solve the problems in the community. The Strathmore Alumni Community Connect event coincided with the institution’s 60^th anniversary.

The event featured an array of experienced speakers in the technology sector who are also alumni of Strathmore University. The Group CEO, KCB Group, Paul Russo, who did his Masters at Strathmore University, was the keynote speaker and he insisted on the use of technology to help the community and solve the problems that society is facing at the moment.

Russo admitted that technology is indeed growing at a faster rate than we, Africans, can fathom. He went further to suggest that for Kenya and Africa to truly use the full power of technology, we have to embrace partnerships. “What will change the world is technology and people. Institutions like Strathmore are important because it helps build the skills that are relevant for the future,” Russo said in his keynote address.

He added that “In Kenya, we have very good technology and have already seen a lot of tech innovation, and we need to use it to improve every sector in this country. For instance, in agriculture, we need to use technology to improve the produce and not just to help sell the produce using e-commerce,” he added, “Banks and financial institutions must find different ways to fund technology-driven initiatives. We need to use technology in this industrial revolution to resolve issues facing the community, and we can do this through partnerships.”

Recognising the important role that technology is playing in this continent is important in scaling growth in every corner of Africa. The dire need to educate the future generation on technology needs to be acted upon by various institutions that have been given the mandate to equip the future generation with the skills needed to help grow the continent.

Dr Vincent Ogutu, the Vice Chancellor at Strathmore University, also announced that the institution is investing in teaching about technology. Dr Ogutu announced that Strathmore has invested in a Security Operation Centre (SOC) that has invested in equipping students with cybersecurity skills. Dr Ogutu further said that the school has recently launched courses in Data Management and Data Science. “Strathmore is always responding to all the trends that are happening in the world. Right now it’s technology and we have recently launched courses in Data Management and Data Science,” Dr Ogutu remarked.

“We are always trying to make people better. The alumni were inspired by this school and have gone and learned in the real world. It’s now time for the alumni to pass down the experience and inspire the future generation,” the Strathmore VC said urging alumni to keep in touch with the institution.

dx⁵’s Head of Content Africa, Carol Odero was among the speakers at the inaugural Strathmore Alumni Connect Conference touching on Embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) In 4IR: Navigating the Impact on Workforce Diversity where she urged young girls and Gen Z to be brave and go for technology positions. She also noted that the use of AI to hire, promote, growth, future earnings and future performance “Such as IBM’s Watson Analytics,” would have “Dramatically changed the course of her career.” Odero further reminded the students that DEI can be secured through AI, citing diversity as “A gathering of differences,” equity as “Different people needing different kinds of support to achieve the same outcome,” with inclusivity as “All for one and one for all.”