The dSkills@EA Incubation Leadership and Innovation Management Programme for Universities in the East African Community (EAC) has successfully concluded, building the capacities at universities in fostering innovation and technology transfer.
This initiative, a collaboration between the EAC and the German government, is implemented by the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) in partnership with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and aim to empower universities to foster academia-industry collaboration, positioning higher institutions as key drivers of regional economic growth.
The programme’s inception in June 2024, followed a comprehensive Training Needs Assessment, that revealed key gaps in innovation management across East African universities. Findings indicated that 65% of institutions required enhanced innovation infrastructure, and 60% sought structured capacity building programmes in technology transfer and intellectual property management. Addressing these needs, the initiative focused on incubation leadership, academia-industry collaboration, and strengthening innovation ecosystems.
The programme was a collaborative effort of universities and stakeholders from across the EAC Partner States; in partnership with Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) from East Africa and Germany, including the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), SA Innovation Summit, E4Impact Foundation, StartHub Africa, Koneta Hub, Centre d'innovation de Lubumbashi (CINOLU), ACLIS, and Technische Universität (TU) Berlin. The partners delivered a world-class curriculum and masterclasses, with deep dives into scaling innovation and start-up support within universities.
Speaking on behalf of the IUCEA Executive Secretary, Dr. Salome Guchu, the Principal Innovation and Research Officer, expressed gratitude for the tremendous contribution by all actors in the programme. She noted that this programme demonstrates the commitment of EAC Partner States to building a network of innovation leaders and to advance technology transfer across the region for sustainable development.
“We appreciate GIZ’s efforts through the dSkills@EA project, in skilling trainers, teachers and students across East Africa, including Somalia. The project has built digital capacities that will support digital transformation in the region. The launch of this AI Alliance will build on these gains,” said Dr Dorcas Omukhulu, the Principal Education Officer, EAC Secretariat.
The four-month programme equipped 129 university hub managers, research and development officers and technology transfer officers from over 91 universities in East Africa, with skills in innovation management and research commercialisation. It provided strategic frameworks for managing innovation processes, protecting academic innovations, translating research into market-ready solutions, and fostering supportive environments for start-ups and spin-offs.
93.6% of participants stated the training met or exceeded their expectations, with 85% integrating innovation management principles into their institutional curricula. In Uganda, the programme led to the formation of a Consortium of University Hubs network, enabling over 10 universities to formalize innovation partnerships and co-develop research commercialization strategies.
Sharing his testimony as a participant of the programme, Mr. Edison Kagona, Manager for the Center of Innovation at Cavendish University in Uganda, praised the programme for highlighting the importance of universities to unite and collaborate through strategic partnerships in research commercialization for a lasting transformation of the community.
The event also marked the graduation of 22 university staff from the Federal Republic of Somalia, who successfully completed digital skills training programme designed to equip educators with essential tools for enhancing learning at universities. The training that was delivered with support of SIMAD university in Somalia, marked the successful conclusion of the digital skills training programme, that benefitted 107 staff from 37 universities across the seven EAC Partner States. To date a total of 4,000 beneficiaries have been trained under the dSkills@EA project.
Mr. Abdiwahab Isak, Director of International Cooperation at SIMAD University in Somalia, commended the initiative expressing his appreciation to all partners for making this a reality and onboarding Somalia to the programme.
On his part, Mr. David Roos, dSkills@EA Project Director, emphasized that the project did not just train individuals, but cultivated an ecosystem that fosters innovation and drives economic development.
“Building on the success, of the dSkills@EA project, IUCEA and GIZ will continue engaging universities through advanced digital skills, AI research and innovation through regional collaboration platforms,” he added.
Find more details about the dSkills@EA project visit www.eacgermany.org