The cyberspace and AI: A one on one with Kenya's Tech envoy, Philip Thigo

The envoy holds a crucial role in President William Ruto’s administration, as the country -believed to be the Technological hub of East Africa. This is as Kenya positions itself as the ‘Silicon Savannah’.

Technological developments, which both the public and private sectors in Kenya are eyeing offer opportunities and risks as more services and businesses shift to online platforms. In breaking technological barriers and solving disputes emerging from shared technological resources, Thigo believes the power is in negotiations as legislation doesn’t work as a magic bullet.

Here is what Thigo had to say about his work and the technological landscape in Kenya;

Q; What do you count as your biggest achievement so far?

It is never an individual achievement. Sometimes it is only fortunate for us who get recognised, we don’t see many people behind the scenes.

We (Kenya) were able to work with like-minded countries to have an artificial intelligence resolution by United Nations that talks about a safe, inclusive, trustworthy AI. It is the only one that is inclusive of every country in the world.

The other piece is that Kenya is part of an International Network of AI Safety Institutes. We are not a creator of AI, nor do we own big infrastructure, but we are part of ensuring AI is safe and secure. In a way that can deliver value.

Through our mission in New York, we were able to steer the negotiations of AI in the Global Digital Compact. We were steering it on behalf of the group of 77 and China.

Q; Is Kenya keen on digital inclusion? How can marginalised communities and persons with disabilities access services on platforms like eCitizen?

The notion that it is digital also means inclusivity. Because before you had to travel a couple of kilometres to get a service. If you look at eCitizen, part of it has accessibility opportunities for PWDs….but it does not necessarily cover the whole range of disabilities.

Part of my portfolio, working with a group that deals with assistive technologies, is to look at how you ensure that you work with PWDs in developing assistive technologies.

People accessing services in their own language is important because part of it also is cultural preservation. What we are trying to work on now is audio and text.

Q; What is the future of connectivity in Kenya - will network expansion rely on fiber or satellites ?

In my own view, it is a mix. You have to provide a mix. The thing about a mix is you give people options. Right now connectivity in this region is about 24%. Kenya boosts the region because connectivity in Kenya is about 42%  and that has been progressive based on investments.

My view is to provide opportunities for the private sector to come in and provide services where government can not provide. The future of connectivity is purpose-driven. We must drive use in a way that builds or creates economic opportunities.

Q; What steps is Kenya taking in AI governance?

There is a strategy that is being developed. You will start seeing it at the end of January. I think AI is a whole of society issue. Yes, the ministry will provide a framework but I am hoping every individual facet will start to harness AI to drive value for specific sectors.

Part of the UN Advisory Report (on AI governance) speaks about opportunities, enablers and cost of misuse. There is a fascination with this new thing, it looks shiny but we should not forget fundamentals - the data part of it. Are we producing data in open status and format, and protecting it in a way that it can be used safely to drive innovation in food, climate and education?

Q; How could Kenya enable the building of AI models locally?

There is a lot of geopolitics on artificial intelligence, and that is why being a tech envoy is important. A lot of these things are negotiations. There has to be negotiation around how we collaborate based on the capability of computing.

So that I can leverage on compute, process my data and at the same time find value to exchange data in a way that is safe. We must start to talk about Sovereign AI.

Sovereign AI does not mean that we are closing ourselves, it means we must figure out how AI works for the country. The future of power in Generative AI is how best are we able to collaborate in a way that speaks to our sovereignty but still contributes to a larger global goal.

We need to move to a regime whereby education sees AI as an accelerator and a supporter to deliver some of the education outcomes and ensure that we have a future-ready workforce that can compete globally.

Q; What can help to bridge the geographical divide in the tech labour force?

I have a sense that technology always moves ahead of policy and agreements. What we will be doing is to re-imagine labour agreements because not many are tech-related.

If we consider online work as a sector where we want to export our labour, then we need to start engaging countries in a conversation around labour agreements. People only see the better part but there are potential harms, you can also be exploited online, risks around content.

Q; How can Kenyans be protected from risks in tech labour force? Could legislation work?

You can legislate in Kenya but a lot of these harms are not physically there. For me, the legal pathway is a last resort. We need to have collaboration between Big Tech companies and ourselves.

We need to coexist, they need to make money and in their making money we need our folks employed. There is a transactional issue.

My approach has been to engage with the Big Tech companies How do we ensure you create guardrails? Because you legislate today, or tomorrow technology changes or it becomes a jurisdiction issue so it doesn’t apply to you.

Q; What is your resolve?

Think about technology as an artefact to improve lives. If tech can be leveraged to improve people’s lives, that is the future we want to go to. Safe secure, inclusive and trustworthy digital future.