The KENET research services team had an opportunity to meet with researchers from International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) to better understand their research infrastructure needs and create awareness of some of KENET research services.
The pool of researchers in Kenya is increasing both in digit and diversity. Although the largest research output in the country between 2016- 2017 was in the field of medicine, research in other fields is on the rise such as econometrics, bioinformatics, computational biology/chemistry, engineering, physics and data science. Big Data (extreme large data sets) calls for more computing power for data analysis and storage.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is one of the most important public institutions in Kenya. One of the apparent reasons is because the wildlife-oriented tourism sector is among the top contributors to the Country’s GDP. Cognizant of this, the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute (KWSTI) provides special training in Natural Resource Management and Tourism Development.
Member Institutions can now register their domain name directly through the KENET portal. On February 22, 2018, KENET launched the DOT KE (.ke) domain registration portal, https://domain.kenet.or.ke/. Any member of the KENET community can register and pay online for any DOT KE domains of their choice including the newly launched second level DOT KE domains (e.g. www.mycampus.ac.ke).
Cloud computing is one of the digital platforms that more Institutions should embrace. Whether in the education or research field, cloud computing progresses the very fundamentals of learning and research. More choice in education in terms of diversity of courses and method of instruction is being offered in many Kenyan Universities. However, cloud computing is being adopted at a sluggish pace, yet the advantages of cloud computing in education and research is copious.
KEFRI extended an invitation to KENET Executive Director to be a guest presenter at a meeting on the eve of their 5th Scientific Conference. The meeting was held on the 16th of April 2018 at the KEFRI headquarters in Muguga.
On April 16 2018, over 150 researchers convened at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)-Nairobi for a half-day forum to discuss how research can be progressed using ICT. The event, organized by KALRO and KENET sought to engage researchers in bid to promote research using Information Technologies. KENET has long worked with researchers as one of its mandates is to enhance research using ICTs. Research in the country has been enhanced by the array of research services and infrastructures provided by KENET.
Almost a year into the KENET Remote teaching project, learning has been recorded to have been efficient at Daystar Universities- with the Main Campus located in Athi River and the satellite Campus in Valley Road, Nairobi. From saving a student a 40 km journey to increasing reach and diversity of learning, the KENET Remote Teaching Project which was launched in 2017 entails use of web conferencing technology in education.
The Network expansion phase at the University of Kabianga has connected most of the Campus to fast and reliable Internet. The KENET team visited the University on 12 and 13 February 2018 to conduct a power on test (POST) on an ongoing project of the development of the Campus Backbone Network Infrastructure – Phase II and assessed that most of the active equipment for connection have been delivered and the project is almost complete.
