Interview with Nicholas Kyanda of Hope First Enterprises, Intersection Magazine and Intersection Magazine Podcast.

 

1. What are your names?

Nicholas Kyanda

 

2. Where did you go to school?

Good Shepherd Nursery School.

Kilimani 2 then changed to Milimani Primary School.

H.H Aga Khan Academy (O and A levels).

3. What did you study in University? Did you go to University? 

In 1998 i moved from Kenya to the U.S to the State of Texas where i attended a school called World Ministry Training Center where i was part of an intensive practical ministry training with a correspondence course with Berean College. The courses were certificaitons to become a Minister under the Assemblies of God as well as the licensing training after which you became a minister. While in the U.S i also started studying for Cisco Training Modules by reading books at Book Stores in the America. Later i took the test but did not get the desired score that let you get certified. Later on I did my SATs with the intent of joining an American College. On returning to Uganda, I restarted the Cisco Training this time at a midnigt to 6AM slot at the then FCIT (Faculty of Computing and Information Technology), Makerere University. 

4. Tell us about what you do? 

While at FCIT, i found some software that led me into the world of Web Design. Started design and later hosting of websites. Then started to expand my knowledge into Linux OS through a friend that was working at Kyambogo University. Here interest in Ubuntu, Open Suse and Fedora was developped as well as Server Platfroms like XAMPP or LAMP if you are in the linux environment. I also started expanding my knowledge in Content Management Systems (CMS) and Learning Management Systems (LMS such as Moodle). I have built and hosted a variety of sites from NGOs to Schools, to businesses and a lot more. In addition to that i shadowed my Father in his consultancy work (submitting bids) as well as served briefly in the office of Public Relations and Resource Mobilization of Ndejje University. 

5. What are some of the major influences in your past that are determining what you are doing now?

My faith is important to me. I spent a fair amount of time travelling and hopefully learning while in the U.S with a good amount of that time working with Faith Based Organizations. These experiences have colored my life as have some brief stints with Mental Health Challenges. Also while in Kenya, i got to work for a computer company (very basic tasks) where i learned quite a lot about the operations of these kinds of projects and the value that exists in merging business operations and training with mainstream Education. While in Uganda about 13 years ago, my course with Cisco also got me interested in Distance Education and Modular Learning and the role that Companies were playing in transforming traditional Education systems (Cisco, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle) were all coming up with certifications that allowed anyone to become a certified professional with these skills. 

6. Tell us about your work with Creative Commons? 

I joined the Creative Commons team in Uganda through CEHURD as well as a friend that i had met in the Library and Information Systems Faculty of MUK. Prior to this in 2015 i had participated in a Harvard Exchange Course called CopyX, which was designed to help students navigate Copyright Law. Creative Commons was designed to help remedy the challenge that came with extending rights that Intellectual Property Owners had over their creative works and to help them transfer those rights if need be. 

7. Tell us more about this CopyX course. Can we get involved? 

I have been trying to personalize this content for our context for a while now and have set up groups on Meta where we provide commentary on cases that deal with Copyright Law Globally. But there is often a slot that is open around November or December where as an Alumni of the school i am given the opportunity to recommend a student for the course. 

The course is so important because it covers global treaties, helps you gain understanding of the different theories that govern how your country thinks and defines in Intellectual Propert Laws. It helps you makes sense of the structures and systems that exist in U.S law (Codes, Circuit Courts, Appeals Courts and Supreme Courts). It also helps you understand how to generate revenue from derivative works especially if you are in the entertainment industry. 

8. What do you think the gaps are in the Technology and Innovation Ecosystem in Uganda? Where else have you been? What would you say are our challenges?

I have written extensively in my magazine about the sector. I have also covered a lot in my Podcast. Our network of Hubs has great services and is meeting needs based on competencies that each has. It is great to see that many of the hubs have experienced growth over the years as well as created partnerships with government and some foreign players to create platforms for the development of youth involved with small businesses. 

Other great achievements have been to do with the creation of an association and a yearly event that enables useful exchanges. Even if most of the larger gatherings and conferences have been based in the capital city, we have seen the expansion of various hubs into other cities in Northern and Western Uganda which is a good start. Companies such as google through their Developer Networks have also done a lot to increase output especially in the Universities. 

Locally the greatest challenge we face is funding even if my view is that we need to improve the means by which we market our innovations and develop unique capital raising rules to suit our complex investment scenarios. 

In terms of travel, i have been to Tanzania and Zanzibar, Rwanda as well as Kenya. 

9. What trends do you see in Technology in the future? 

I actually asked Chat GPT the same question a few months ago and its responses were interesting. 

It is difficult to have focus when there are are so many trends that others are following. I share the words of those who say it is better to create the future than to predict it. In a presentation i gave with Data Umbrella part of which is featured in Intersection Magazine December 2023, i covered Linux and was amazed at the opportunities that exist in Open Source. These are opportunities for developers in different Linux Distros where in Software or Hardware, Support, Cloud, IOT, Data Centers, Containerization and Virtualization. 

Other areas though involve policy discussions and regulation which is why i mentioned The Copyright Course. Other discussions we have in the presentation are about Media Freedoms, Privacy, Whistle Blowing and Surveillance.