The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), through a three-year research project funded by The Lemelson Foundation, aims to enhance its support for social innovation and expand the infrastructure for hardware technology that addresses social challenges in East Africa. This 2024 project forms a larger research framework, with year one dedicated to assessing ecosystem needs, year two focusing on validating and piloting solutions, and year three aiming to scale successful strategies. 2023-2024 marked Year 1 of this initiative, with the specific objective of assessing the need for ecosystem strengthening in East Africa. The roundtable discussion, held on June 19, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya, was an integral part of this broader effort to build a robust ecosystem for hardware innovation.
Present at the roundtable discussion was a diverse group of 24 stakeholders across four groups – Entrepreneurs, Financiers/Funders, Entrepreneur Support Organizations, and Industry and Manufacturing entities – convened to discuss the various important aspects of the Kenyan hardware entrepreneurship ecosystem.
This summary report captures the essence of those discussions, highlighting the key takeaways and recommendations that emerged from this critical convening.
Click here to view the summary report
RESEARCH FELLOW: Nancy Nyawira Wangari.
MANAGING FELLOW: Sydney Okoroafor.
PARTNER COLLABORATOR: Leah Putman, Senior Director, ASME; Ash Seth, Strategy Consultant, E4C.
This research was completed as part of the 2024 E4C Fellowship program. If your organisation would like to become a research partner, contact impactprojects@engineeringforchange.org.
No Comments.