Celebrating the Community – iHub’s 5 Year Tech Bash
43 companies in the Kenyan tech scene have come together to put on an event for 3,000+ people in the tech community, the #5yrTechBash at the Arboretum. The iHub is turning 5 and it’s a testament to the people and companies who make up this space that we’re thriving and have a chance to celebrate.
It’s a community event by all of us, for all of us!
Community as our Legacy
There has been a long history of the tech community in Kenya coming together, from Skunkworks and Barcamps to the iHub itself. I tend to think of community connectedness as one of Kenya’s key competitive advantages. Read this blog post by the founders of Angani, a company made up of some of the pioneers in the space, to understand some of the background on how this has come together.
If you read this post I wrote on “What makes the iHub Work” from 4 years ago, you’ll see that it’s a combination of many people that ultimately makes it different and why it still makes such an impact on people’s lives. Also take a moment to read Josiah Mugambi’s piece on the last 5 years.
The iHub community over 5 years
Tracking the Numbers
One of the great strengths of the iHub is the serendipity that you have by coming in and running into people. However, that’s an inherently difficult thing to measure. I wrote a blog post 1.5 years ago about “what has the iHub done“, and it’s time for an update.
If you’re a place like the iHub with your own Research arm, then you measure other things, this from Leo Mutuku and the team at iHub Research:
iHub Startup Numbers over 5 years
In the second year of the iHub, we started the iHub Research arm and the m:lab, both of which have excelled. iHub Research’s job is to shares stories about the vibrant East African technology community by conducting ICT research on technology innovation within the community. Here’s what they’ve done:
iHub Research over 5 years
To the next 5!
As much as the big bash today is a celebration of the past 5+ years, it’s also a time to get ready for the NEXT 5 years. While we’ve made a lot of progress as a whole, we’ve gotten much further than many thought we could in this time, we still have a long way to go.
A timeline of events in Tech in Kenya over 5 years
A Gallery of Pics
EDIT: Wanted to add some pictures that bring me the memories of the faces and events of the past few years.
March 7, 2015 at 10:51 am
Suspicious characters in those pics 🙂
March 7, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Great strides achieved. Good work. Press on.
March 7, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Congratulations! I still remember how you told me about this idea of how great it would be to have a tech hub in Nbo.
Clearly, what I like best about the iHub is that it connects the community and motivates people to give back. In a challenging environment of cities like Nairobi that are imo growing way too fast, this concept of giving and building something together probably isn’t the norm (anymore). So, yes, community connectedness isn’t only an advantage, but also something to really feel good about.
March 7, 2015 at 4:19 pm
This is what creating a legacy is all about.
March 9, 2015 at 6:46 am
Great stuff, Congratulations!!
Very inspiring to me as we set on our journey with a new tech hub in Lilongwe, Malawi later this month.
March 16, 2015 at 1:40 pm
Keep up with the great job IHUB! Kenya’s Leading Web Design and Development Company – Urban Kreative