Kenya Targets Digital Hub In Every Ward

Kenya is scaling up its Digital Hubs Programme, with 588 sites committed across the country as the government advances plans to establish a digital hub in every ward.

Led by the State Department for ICT and Digital Economy, the programme seeks to expand grassroots access to digital skills, technology and economic opportunities while creating a more sustainable model for community digital centres.

Eng. John Tanui, Principal Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy, provided the latest update during an engagement with the National Assembly NG-CDF Committee, highlighting progress on infrastructure, equipment procurement and a new funding model for the facilities.

Amendments to the NG-CDF Act have enabled constituencies to establish digital hubs at ward level and allocate up to 3 per cent of NG-CDF funds towards their operational costs. The government expects the provision to create a more sustainable funding mechanism for electricity, connectivity, maintenance and management.

Equipment deployment is also progressing, with procurement of 10,000 locally assembled desktop computers completed. The computers are expected to support the first 100 pilot digital hubs.

A further 10,000 computers under the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project are in the final stages of procurement, while another 2,222 Exchequer-funded desktops are being acquired.

Construction is underway on 46 Centres of Excellence and 40 Standard Digital Hubs, adding to the infrastructure being developed under the programme.

The government plans to position the hubs as grassroots centres for digital skills development, innovation, artificial intelligence, software development, entrepreneurship, online work, e-commerce and access to government digital services.

The programme is ultimately aimed at expanding access to the infrastructure and skills required for young people, innovators and businesses to participate in Kenya’s growing digital economy.