East African Community (EAC) Secretary General (SG) Liberat Mfumukeko has negotiated with American technology firms and research institutions to set up innovation parks in EAC region for development and transfer of the latest technologies.
Mfumukeko recently visited Silicon Valley in California, Singularity University (SU) and Google who sponsored a “Global Innovation Challenge” which was launched in March 2017 at the EAC headquarters where three young persons (2 Kenyans and 1 Ugandan) were among the winners who are now at the NASA Ames Research Park.
“Each of the winners has a technological invention which does not exist on earth,” Mfumukeko told this website.
“I went to visit SU and Google R&D Centre (now called X) to negotiate a partnership which will eventually enable the setting up of an innovation park in our region but also help Google test some of their new products which would help the region; for eg. balloons which will be launched in the stratosphere above each country to enable internet access in the most remote places.”
Mfumukeko said Google has invented a car which is already on the streets of California; “it has no steering wheel, you just sit in it, program the GPS system and it takes you where you want to go.”