By James Wakahiu
Mount Kenya University (MKU) and Vincent Pol University of Poland are organizing the 8th International Interdisciplinary and Inter-Universities Consortium –Africa Conference 2023 set to be held in Thika town at the end of March.
The conference’s chairman, Dr Henry Yatich of MKU, says the forum is being organised in collaboration with Kyambogo University of Uganda, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (Nigeria), University of Makeni (Sierra Leone) and Kenya’s University of Eldoret. All five African universities are members of the Inter-University Consortium Africa which is dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in knowledge and technological innovation.
The three day conference seeks to bring together more than 100 delegates, among them stakeholders from academia, public and private sectors to discuss strategies to entrench peace, security and socio-economic development.
“This conference is the first initiative of the re-branded and a more enhanced Inter-Universities Consortium-Africa in the post- COVID – 19 times,” says Dr Yatich.
The meeting is set to be held from March 29 to March 31, 2023 under the theme, “Participatory Leadership, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer for Sustainable Economies”. It aims to provide an opportunity for academicians, professionals and researchers from various fields to interact, share experiences and promote research and practice.
The conference will be held at the Mwai Kibaki Convention Centre at MKU’s main campus in Thika town. “So far, the conference expects to receive participants from Uganda, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, USA, Poland, and Kenya,” says Dr Yatich.
Some of the invited guests include the rector from Vincent Pol University, the CEO of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), the CEO Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA), leading Innovation Hub Managers and the Inter-Universities Council of East Africa. NACOSTI facilitates the promotion, coordination and regulation of the progress of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) while KeNIA strengthens interrelationships between actors in order to promote innovation and enterprise development out of research and ideas in Kenya.
The conference comes during the Post COVID-19 period when most organizations have mastered the hybrid conduct of businesses. It will be hybrid taking advantage of digital connectivity and the physical presence and the benefits associated thereof.
According to Dr Yatich, the conference also comes at a time when the world is experiencing a relapse into anti-life challenges including Russian-Ukraine war, global climate change, desire for innovation and its effects as well as civil tension and hunger in a number of countries including Kenya. “We expect this forum to provide, through its proceedings, with potential knowledge based guidelines to policy makers and policy implementer’s areas of interrogation through research as well as suggestions for community engagement,” he adds.
By embracing the recently launched African Union (AU) –European Union (EU) innovation agenda, the conference also embraces MKU’s status of being the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) SDG10 on Reduced Inequalities Hub, in collaboration with Vincent Pol University-Lublin. “Delegates on hybrid basis shall jointly and variously address the challenges of global inequalities and how to effectively address them with a view to reduce if not possibly to totally eradicate them,” says the varsity don.
The conference chairman says a number of relevant post-conference activities are planned and shall be encouraged at different parts of the continent all of which will project towards the pertinent positive contribution to the public good from an international perspective and in line with SDGs 2030.
Three hotels in Thika town (Paleo Hotel, St Luke Cravers and Eton) have offered subsidised accommodation for delegates. “All our delegates have been advised to check on the eligibility status for E-Visa applications, which are currently more flexible and are issued at least two working days in advance, which is the preferred visa for entry for foreign guests. However, delegates from Uganda and Sierra Leone currently are exempted from applying for VISA to Kenya,” notes Dr Yatich.
