Kenya GeoSpatial Industry

Kenya GeoSpatial Industry

According to GEOBUIZ, a Magazine that focuses on Geospatial Industry Outlook and Readiness Index, Kenya is ranked 37^th with a score of 11.958 and geospatial data Infrastructure score of 7.13 in terms of Geospatial data Infrastructure, platforms and portals, standards and positioning infrastructure as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 - Source: GEOBUIZ Magazine 2018

In Africa, Kenya is 3^rd after South Africa and Egypt followed by Nigeria in 4^th position in spatial industry development. GeoSpatial technology is expected to grow in Africa, Kenya included. The growth shall be driven by the expansion of the user base aided by government initiatives in science and technology,  ICT and capacity building. Kenya launched its first satellite built by the University of Nairobi into space on 11th May 2018. It was developed with help of experts from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2018/05/20180511_1kuns-pf.html

CubeSat, named “1KUNS-PF”, The Kenya nanosatellite /PHOTO COURTESY

Kenya has made strides in GeoSpatial Research (Ph.D and Postgraduate courses) and Foundational courses (Graduate, Diploma and Certificate courses). However, the Kenya Institutional Capacity is still low (0.02) mainly because single geospatial discipline focused courses are still few. The main Universities that offer single GeoSpatial focused undergraduate degrees and Masters are University of Nairobi – Department of Geospatial and Space Technology (http://geospatial.uonbi.ac.ke/), Dedan Kimathi University of Technology - Institute of Geomatics, GIS and Remote Sensing (https://www.dkut.ac.ke/index.php/institute-of-geomatics-gis-and-remote-sensing-iggres), Technical University of Kenya - School Of Surveying And Geospatial Sciences (http://ssgs.tukenya.ac.ke/ ), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology - Department of Geomatic Engineering & Geospatial Information Systems (http://www.jkuat.ac.ke/departments/gegis/ ) among other universities  offering Geography degree courses like the Moi University, University of Nairob. For main Diploma and Certificate  geospatial courses, Kenya has Kenya Institute of Surveying and Mapping - KISM (https://lucychepkosgei-gis-remotesensing.blogspot.com/2017/05/kenya-institute-of-surveying-and_26.html ) and Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development – RCMRD ( http://www.rcmrd.org/training/technical-diploma-courses ).

In terms of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Kenya is ranked number 36. In 2006 to 2008, Kenya came up with Kenya National Spatial Infrastructure (KNSDI) with mandate to develop the Kenya Profile for Geographical Information Standards (KPGIS). Among the outputs were the KPGIS document (available in Survey of Kenya) and a manual for specifications for 1:50000 topographic map based on the KPGIS. Kenya is at 1.15 score globally in policy framework, geospatial policies, open data policies, space-GNSS policies, and enabling policies like the science, technology and Information-Communication-Technology (ICT) policy.  KNSDI draft policy was developed in 2009 but it is still awaiting approval by the relevant authorities. Recently, Kenya approved the commercial use of drones (unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV). Kenya drone laws and regulations have to be followed when using UAV in the country (https://www.uavsystemsinternational.com/drone-laws-by-country/kenya-drone-laws/ )

Kenya Space Agency Board was established by President Uhuru Kenyatta through a March 2017 gazette notice and is headed by the Kenya Defence Forces’ Team. Kenya Space Agency Board (KSAB) was inaugurated in September 2018. Space activities in Kenya began in 1960s with the establishment of a Satellite Launching and Tracking Base at Malindi, collaboration between Kenya and Italy. Over 20 sounding rockets and 9 satellites have been launched from the facility (http://www.mod.go.ke/?p=10219)

Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Defence, Amb Raychelle Omamo in a group photo with the Board Members of the Kenya Space Agency outside the Defence Headquarters, Nairobi, on Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Kenya has not yet fully integrated geospatial technology in its systems at all stages of geospatial use. Geospatial stages include mapping or service level, asset management, analytics and workflow, system integration level, and enterprise level. Kenya is still at mapping – service level.  Its user adoption is at 2.55 score. The adoption of spatial technology is limited to government ministries and departments majorly in institutions like the Survey of Kenya, Department of Resource Survey and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) and its use has not moved beyond mapping level mainly due to lack of necessary capabilities and infrastructure.

In International arena, geospatial membership organizations, institutions and forums, and industry networks, Kenya lies in service provider category. Its score globally stands at 1.08.  Kenya’s development of new geo-products and geospatial market solutions is weak. Among the Membership organizations are Institute Of Surveyors Of Kenya (https://isk.or.ke/ ), Geospatial Society of Kenya (http://www.geosk.or.ke/ ) among others. The geospatial organizations is much about memberships but do not advocate much for its members interests apart from professional membership of a recognized geospatial body which some employers often require as a requirement to be employed. There are still no specific business incubation programs in geospatial domain that helps new and startup geospatial companies to develop and grow in Kenya.

Kenya Geospatial organizations offering GIS-Remote Sensing and related technologies can be found in the following Link (continuously updated): https://lucychepkosgei-gis-remotesensing.blogspot.com/2015/04/geo-organizations-in-kenya-offering-gis.html