KNA digitization drive to be completed by December 2015

How much do you know about Kenya’s History? Well, soon, Kenyans will be able to go down memory lane, by browsing photographs and audio clips of Kenya’s history, wherever they are this is after ICT Authority announced that they are helping KNA digitize all their images and expect the digitization drive to be complete by December 2015.

Kenya News Agency (KNA) holds more than 500 thousand copies of images and audio clips that are now being digitized. The photo library collection dates back to 1936 and documents Kenyan life through the decades.

Over the years, the Agency has documented all the key events in Kenya—from the emergency days to independence, the growth of Kenya from a newly independent country to its modernization. As of 2014, KNA has managed to use its limited resources to scan approximately 6,000 images out of a collection of approximately 500,000 photos.

The KNA collection is currently underutilized due to difficulty of retrieving the photos, lack of an adequate index to the collection and lack of awareness by the public of its existence. This has resulted in potential consumers missing out on this wealth of information. For the Government of Kenya this represents an untapped source of revenue as it could licence rights to persons and institutions who may wish to purchase the photos for their own use.

The KNA Digitization project was conceived in 2011. A stakeholder’s workshop was held in 2012 to define the scope of the project. In 2014, the ICT Authority secured funding to execute a comprehensive digitization and automation project for the KNA.

The project seeks to improve storage conditions of KNA assets for posterity which will drive archive standard secure physical storage for KNA multi-media assets. The project will also Improve KNA staff ability to fulfil requests for information through a robust catalogue system that supports easy and quick search and retrieval of multi-media assets

To increase the visibility of KNA assets, the project also plans to help through launching an Interactive rich media website that will allow users find, view, and comment on digital copies of KNA multimedia assets. The website will also allow users to purchase licenced digital copies of KNA assets.

Photos in the KNA Library are a national treasure. The images and negatives are currently stored in brown envelopes and metal cabinets at the KNA office at the Department of Information, Ministry of ICT located at Uchumi House, Aga Khan Walk, Nairobi.