In a resounding celebration of collaborative strides, the Kenya Innovation Week 2023, Commonwealth Edition, showcased an impactful highlight – the Inclusive Innovations Summit. Hosted on November 29, 2023, at the prestigious Edge Convention Centre, this summit, spearheaded by Bernard Chiira, Director of Innovate Now, bore the theme ‘Innovate for All: Driving Inclusive Innovation in the Commonwealth.’ It was a convergence point uniting disability advocate organizations, startup visionaries, investors, and builders within the disability ecosystem.
Bernard Chiira set the day’s tone with a keynote emphasizing the critical need for collaboration among government, developmental partners, and the private sector. He acknowledged the historical role of charitable organizations in the disability sector but stressed the imperative for both public and private sectors to rectify systemic failures and lack of accountability for sustainable inclusion. Chiira advocated for an environment fostering disability-focused innovations and championed equal opportunities for enhanced economic empowerment. Highlighting the global disability community, constituting 15% of the world’s population, he termed it as the largest diversity segment that cannot be ignored.
Bernard showcased the achievements of Innovate Now-Africa’s assistive technology accelerator, a collaborative project supported by FCDO, the Norwegian Agency for Development, and partners including Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa and the Global Disability Innovation Hub. He emphasized the role of startups and a mindset shift in driving inclusive innovation for the equal participation and contribution of individuals with disabilities in socio-economic development. Bernard urged governments, investors, and funders to recognize the dual imperative of moral responsibility and economic viability in disability inclusion, referencing insights from the ATScale report. He invited investors to reconsider traditional venture capital and philanthropy models for disability investment, highlighting a diverse range of investment opportunities, from high-tech scalable solutions to mass-market, low-cost Assistive Technology innovations capable of delivering significant impact and returns.
The summit unveiled a thought-provoking panel discussion that delved into two critical dimensions: investing in inclusive innovations and the role of inclusivity in education and employment. Esteemed experts in inclusivity included Dr. Mbugua wa Mungai (Kenyatta University), Suparna Biswas (Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa), Kennedy Okongo (Riziki Source) and Bernard Chiira, deliberated, revealing significant outcomes that shaped the discourse:
- A resounding call for the establishment of robust, accessible educational frameworks from early childhood, thereby empowering the next generation of capable individuals.
- Advocacy for supportive educational policies, emphasizing inclusive curricula catering to children with disabilities, ensuring a level playing field.
- Stressed collaborations among diverse stakeholders, encompassing governmental bodies, developmental partners, and private institutions for sustained progress.
- Emphasized the pivotal role of tailored skill development programs in nurturing a workforce inclusive of diverse abilities, fostering a more comprehensive professional landscape.
- A clarion call to organizations to implement necessary accommodations for employees with disabilities, fostering an inclusive and accommodating work environment.
- Urged investors to recognize the potential of disability-focused innovations and startups, highlighting untapped markets and societal needs, while ensuring a robust return on investment with a concurrent positive societal impact.
A defining moment of the summit arrived with the unveiling of the Global Disability Innovation Report, a publication of Village Capital and a collaborative effort between Smart Job, JPMorgan Chase & Company and 10 global accelerators focused on disability innovation. The report’s salient points encapsulated profound insights:
- Advocacy to view disability not as a limitation but as a catalyst for human progress, acknowledging the invaluable expertise of disability innovators.
- Compelling plea for decision-makers to actively seek and value input from persons with disabilities in designing and executing solutions, products, and policies, advocating for user-centric innovation.
- Recognized the paramount importance of establishing inclusive educational environments to foster and support the growth of disability innovators, identifying education as a cornerstone for nurturing future innovators.
- A strategic call for the expansion of investment capital across various developmental stages, ensuring sustained growth and scalability within the disability ecosystem.
A copy of the report can be downloaded for free here.
Top Startups building assistive technologies and accessibility solutions presented compelling pitches and demos. The three alumni of Innovate Now included Signverse, a winner of the Kenya Innovation Week Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Awards 2023, Ace Mobility an award winning accessible ride hailing company and Uptyke Education, a digital publisher of accessible education curricula content provider.
The Inclusive Innovation Summit offered a platform for ecosystem partners to make special announcements and invitations. Mckevin Ayaba, CEO and founder of Set a Startup and the Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders Summit (ASEB) announced Nairobi has the host of the next ASEB Summit from 6-8th December 2023. Irene Mbari the founder and executive director of InABLE and the Inclusive Africa Conference announced the Africa ICT Standards project and the next Inclusive Africa Conference to be held in Nairobi in May 2024. Emeline Skinner and Enos Weswa from the British High Commission in Kenya shared about various initiative supported by the UK government around Inclusivity including the AT2030 project.
The climax of the summit was a rousing call to action, compelling all participants to champion inclusivity within their spheres of influence. Whether in the realms of business, education, or policymaking, a resolute commitment to diversity and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities was positioned as a collective responsibility.
The Inclusive Innovations Summit not only spotlighted prevailing challenges but also charted a definitive roadmap toward a more inclusive and innovative future. It served as a beacon, inspiring action, and catalyzing change across domains, heralding an era of unprecedented collaboration and empowerment.
