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idea drivers.

Tonee Ndungu was the pitch

carrier for the NaiLab. Three

minutes on a stage would allow

him to sell the NaiLab concept

and present the three mainneeds the NaiLab had. Money

could not be one of the needs.

After the eight individual pitch-

es, each idea driver would have

two 40 minute sessions with

ten people on his or her table

for a way forward conversa-

tion meant to concretize part-

nerships, expand networks and

solidify resources (mostly in

knowledge management and

best practices).

This newsletter is the NaiLab

story afteroutlining the journey

since then. Meet the people,

see the space, understand the

dream, know the progress and

see yourself in the growth of

the Nairobi Laboratory - the

Digital Media Consultancy and

Incubation Lab.

What does your

dream look like..

World over, most

people quite simply dont

know. This is not because they

lack any sort of intellectual

insight, neither is it because

they have it. Its is mostly be-

cause they dont have all the

ingredients: people!

TEDxChange - Amsterdam was

about people. TED is a global

conference that brings people

from all over the world to

share some of their best ideas.

A global conversation from a

local level. Words like Glocal

come to mind when you thinkof the context the videos have

had. They embrace a local but

also global context. In fact, the

limitations set on the ideas

shared on TED.Com are as far

as the people applying them are

willing to go. The single most

persistent setback with ideas

however is just that...they are

ideas!

TEDxChange walks in the door

like in an old western, guns

blazing! Say we get these ideas

and match them up with a

couple of drivers and see

where this goes. What say you?

That was the drive behind

TEDxChange Amsterdam and

exactly what happened at the

Dialogues House of ABN AM-

RO Bank on the 20th of Sep-

tember 2010. A super-talented

cluster of 100 professionals

were the audience hosting eight

BUILD IT

Nothing beats creatingsomething for others. From

fashion to food, work to sport,

living space to working space

and areas for learning to areas

to create. The NaiLab, for

many of those that will be in

this space, will be all of these.

The challenge of creating a

culture of professionalism and

efficiency while maintaining a

creativity and versatility that is

necessary to accommodate for

new and rich media means

building the space that will

encompass these divergent and

sometimes clashing elements.

The 3D video on our

www.nailab.co.ke website has

been long deemed unfit to

cater for the environment we

are working to build. The

drawing boards are now out

and the pencils sharpened..

A new design is in the works.

We will talk more about how

we are getting the design in

page 3 but this we guarantee, it

will be the space in the region

for digital media consultation

and incubation.

Keep an eye on this space, the

designs and sketches will be

coming up over the next month

as more conclusive designs get

moved from concept to con-

crete. We cant wait!

Volume 1, Issue 1

The Floppy

Inside this issue:

Why Local Technology Matters 2

NaiLab at TEDxPSU 2

Nov - Dec 2010 Activity Calendar 2

Design Our Space: A Competition 3

What You Can Expect 3

An Appreciation: THANKS 3

The True Size Of Africa 4

monthly

The NAILAB Newsletter


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If you have beenone to travel,there are a couple of

things that will always

draw you closer to or

further away from

memorable trip. The

main ones are the

usual suspects...music,

people, history, archi-

tecture, language and

sometimes the most

important one; food!

So why should technology be any

different? While some people

prefer to use credit cards, others

use mobile phones. While some

see e-mails as the fastest way to

communicate, others use social

networking. Some carry laptops

while others need little more

than their blackberry, iPhone or

Android mobiles.

Therein lies the importance of

local technology - not borrowed

or copy-paste. Here is a simple

example of how this can be more

pertinent in the developing world

than anywhere else in the world.

UBR stands for Universal Birth

Registration. This is a right every

child in the world as that includes

birth registration, vaccination anda birth certificate. There is a little

problem of infrastructure in most

parts of the developing world. So

maybe it is a big problem. What

can localized technology do to

help solve this problem.

How about the Nokia Data

Gathering tool that converts a

simple Nokia phone (E63) into a

Birth registration tool. Infor-

mation collected in an on-phone

form including a photograph

captured from its camera can be

sent to a government phone

number as a series of intelligent

SMS* texts that convert into a

form once received. An automat-

ed system then prints and faxes

the forms to relevant offices

including the childs parents.

Problem solved!

as a mass market in the African

and hopefully global scale. But we

do believe in starting small.

Some deliverables for digital

media prospects and some

presentations for online solutions

for our initial corporate clients

are in the works. We have a

week to work on those as we

settle the matter of our three

prism website; a consultancy

portal, incubation portal and

blogging portal all integrated into

one easy-to-use web site.

October is coming to

a close. The main

stage for partnership

development, fund-

raising and marketing are coming

to a close for the NaiLab team.

We were bold, told and sold all

we offered and planned. Now,

we build.

Corporate and NGOs are two

clients we are beginning with this

coming months with social media

products and solutions that

attract a specific market as well

Some events we will be hosting

also include the launch of the

GISWatch report that is a com-

prehensive report on ICT Poli-

cies worldwide that is a copro-

duction of Hivos and APC.

Workshops on social media

tools, activities, action plans and

execution strategies area also in

the pipeline. With all the drilling

and banging (construction) we

think this will be a mostly indus-

trial space. We really like that!

Why Local Technology Matters

Nov - Dec 2010 Activity Calendar

NaiLab at TEDxPSUTonee Ndungu, the creative mind

in the NaiLab was there to make

the presentation. Among many

respected guests at the event

was Rives of the 4am TED Global

fame and a video from the uni-

versally popular Hans Rosling.

Fortunate to have the last spot

on the speaking roster, Tonee

was tasked with closing the event

on a high note and leaving the

students he flew 7000 miles to

present to, encouraged, enlight-

ened and engaged.

At the NaiLab we are fortunate

to have a network that appreci-

ates the value of having a dream

and chasing it. At Penn State

(university) you have the good

fortune of having a dream and

(educators) running alongside

you as you chase it. Tonee said.

This, I must caution you, will not

last for ever. Every move you

make towards your dream, is one

step further from your comfort

zone. That step better be worth

it.

He got a standing ovation.

www.tedxpsu.com

For students at Penn State

University, the idea of a

locally started locally run digital

media consultancy and Incubator

was nothing stunning. But the

idea of incorporating the needs

of the local corporate digital

media needs with the livelihoods

of young people from peri-urban

settlements (also called slums)

was an idea worth sharing.

The NaiLab was invited to Penn

State University for the 10/10/10

TEDxPSU event that hosted a

little over 1000 students and

faculty members.

This, I must caution

you, will not last for

ever. Every move

you make towards

your dream, is one

step further from

your comfort zone.

That step better be

worth it.

Page 2 The Floppy

Ugandan local food: technology, like

local delicacies is not always the same in

every part of the world.


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We mentioned earlier

the complexities of

creating a designeveryone is happy with. It is

something close to pleasing your

mother-in-law. There are two

alternatives to this. Try. Fail. List

down best practices. Try again.

Well, no. That will not work. The

next best solution was to crowd

source it. So we did!

Enter the University of Nairobi

class of Architecture and interior

design. Young passionate design-

ers with enthusiasm that can

match jet engines but limited to

canvas and computer imagery.

We wondered what a tour of the

NaiLab space and a 2000 re-

ward would be for motivation.

We are yet to have the studentsvisit the space but the buzz is

almost combustible.

The contest has been organized

with the help of an architect,

structural engineer and interior

designer that will select the bet

concept and have the student

lead on the design as the profes-

sionals implement the concepts.

The beauty of the competition is

that apart from the reward mon-

ey the young person gets, theyget to have their name on the

NaiLab door permanently. There

is nothing as important as owner-

ship of the local space.

The contest will last seven days

and require the contestants to

present not only a complete

design, but photographs of mate-

rials they think would be applica-

ble to their concept and keep the

space as ECO-Friendly as possi-

ble. This will include the use of

daylight to light up the space and

energy saving suggestions and

designs.

The competition has been called:

Seven days to Space.

Now all we have to do is confirm

a sponsor. Were working on it!

eveld of Accenture for running

our table. All the people on the

table that thrashed out the basics

of getting the NaiLab off the

production line and onto service

delivery, a big thank you.

The organizing team behind

TEDxChange with Jim Stolze and

Ilse Kerling holding it all together.

The NaiLab table had many

amazing people most of whom

we have sent personal e-mails

too. Thanks again for the time

and mind-share. Thank you.

This is the section that belongs

to you. We have a large number

of people to say thank you too.

Rather than mention names and

leave out people, we figured we

would rather appreciate every-

one that has taken the NaiLab

and made it a facet of their lives.

Beginning with the lovely people

at the 1%CLUB to those at the

1%EVENT that took NaiLab as

their business case. We would

like to say thanks to you. A spe-

cial shout out to Laurens Co-

For Marlon Parker, a speaker,

RLabs founder and all round

inspiration, and your table host

Anna Chojnacka thank you for

the support partnership and

vision you both carry.

Ben white, Emer Beamer (you

helped us get home), Caroline de

Boer, and the lovely people that

took the time to comment, shake

our hands, clap when we finished

and gave us business cards. We

appreciate you so very much.

THANK YOU.

Design Our Space: A Competition

An Appreciation: THANKS

What You Can ExpectA seasoned professional in busi-

ness development with three

successful companies under his

belt, his prowess at vision man-

agement and concept-to-creation

translate into productive, quanti-

fiable and sustainable results for

NaiLab clients and partners.

Supported but the interdiscipli-

nary board led by 1%CLUBs Bart

Lacriox, the NaiLab has begun on

a stable platform and will sustain

this momentum as we go.

Careful not to be overly optimis-

tic, some expectations of the

NaiLab include:

A Complete Working Space

A Comprehensive Website

that will be a global onlineportal for Consultancy and

Incubation.

International and Local digital

media working relationships by

the end of 2010

Monthly NaiLab progress

updates until its launch in

January 2011.

FFFFirst things first; The

Floppy newsletter

will soon grow into

The Byte! We cant

stay here forever can we? Until

then we will grow ourselves

under the direction of the NaiLab

Business Development Director

Sam Gichuru.

Sam is the drive behind the solid-

ity of the NaiLab. Though you

may see Tonee Ndungus face

more than Sam, he is the con-

stant churn that keeps the ma-

chinery moving in the NaiLab.

..his prowess at vision

management and

concept-to-creation

translate into

productive,

quantifiable and

sustainable results for

NaiLab clients and

partners.

Page 3Volume 1, Issue 1

You helped us take off!


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4th Floor - Bishop Magua Centre

Ngong Road - Nairobi

Phone: + 254 202 696 530

E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]/nailabnairobi

www.nailab.co.ke

The NaiLab - Nairobi Laboratory - is a Digital Media Consultaon Firm and Incubator in Nairobi. The NaiL-

ab focuses on new, rich and social media soluons for the Sub-Sahara African market while invesng in

an incubaon Social Venture that develops clickable ideas that could enhance the digital media space inthis market. The NaiLab consultants execute projects with a vast network of online media experts in the

Nairobi technology scene while training young people from peri-urban selements to service NaiLab

clients.

Eat healthy!

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