Kenya is accelerating the rollout of its Digital Hubs Programme, with 588 digital hub sites now committed nationwide as the government works towards establishing a digital hub in every ward.
The programme, led by the State Department for ICT and Digital Economy, is designed to expand access to digital skills, technology and economic opportunities while addressing longstanding challenges that affected the sustainability of community digital centres. The latest progress update was presented by Principal Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy, Eng. John Kipchumba Tanui, during an engagement with the National Assembly NG-CDF Committee.
The government said amendments to the NG-CDF Act have enabled constituencies to establish digital hubs at ward level and allocate up to 3% of NG-CDF funds towards their operational costs. The move is intended to provide a more sustainable model for funding electricity, connectivity, maintenance and management of the facilities.
Infrastructure and equipment deployment are also progressing. Procurement of 10,000 locally assembled desktop computers has been completed, with the equipment expected to support the first 100 pilot digital hubs. A further 10,000 computers under the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project are in the final stages of procurement, while 2,222 Exchequer-funded desktops are also being acquired. Construction is underway on 46 Centres of Excellence and 40 Standard Digital Hubs.
The government expects the hubs to become grassroots centres for digital skills development, innovation, artificial intelligence, software development, entrepreneurship, online work, e-commerce and access to government digital services. The programme is intended to give young people, innovators and businesses across Kenya greater access to the infrastructure and skills needed to participate in the country’s digital economy.
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