Kenya’s Information, Communication and Technology Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru, has appointed Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the former ICT Permanent Secretary, to lead a 10-member taskforce that is set to explore the use of the blockchain and artificial intelligence for Kenya’s development.

With a three-month tenure, the 11-member team is expected to come up with a 15-year roadmap for the use of both blockchain technology and artificial intelligence with the main focus being on making Kenya a leader in the job creation space.

The blockchain is the underlying technology of the digital currency bitcoin. However, due to its open-source data, it can be augmented to be applied for a wide range of purposes including storage of government data, supply chain management, and the development of secure voting systems.

The government-backed taskforce will come up with recommendations on how the Kenyan government can best leverage upcoming technologies with major key milestones expected in 2027 and 2037.

According to a report by Capital FM, Mucheru said,

“In the ICT field, one year is almost equivalent to five years in the real world so we are breaking it into five-year periods so that we are able to take bite-sized chunks.”

Blockchain Roadmap

The contextualised blockchain roadmap is expected to detail how both the blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies can be utilised in the areas of single digital identity, cybersecurity, overall public service delivery, land tilting, and the election process.

According to Mucheru, the push for Kenya to move towards a digital economy is aimed at creating at electronic manufacturing and a thriving semiconductor, which includes the sensors for the Internet of Things, financial technology center, e-commerce, cloud services as well as becoming a logistics hub.

He went on to say,

“I want when people online search keywords such as entrepreneurship, venture capital funds, digital economy, e-commerce, media, logistics and distribution, jobs and employment, health and education, that Kenya is always at the top.”

Mucheru said that the government expects that the blockchain will have obvious applications that can be used in the land sector as well as the education sector.

According to Mucheru, if agreed upon, the taskforce will decentralise the incubation hubs found in Nairobi and instead, develop the “possibility of an innovation SACCO and/or fund within the next 12 months.”

Steve Chege, Safaricom’s Head of Corporate Affairs and Juliana Rotich who is a tech entrepreneur currently consulting for Novato Africa and is well-known as the co-founcer of Ushahidi and BRCK are some of the other members chosen to be part of the taskforce.

Other team members are Fred Michuki, Elizabeth Ondula, John Gitau, Dr. Charity Wayua, Michael Onyango, Mahmoud Mohammed Noor, John Walubengo, Lesley Mbogo, and Fred Michuki.