Career-Education

Michael Niyitegeka on Desert Island Discs with Simon KASYATE

2020-07-26T20:24:00.001-07:00

Enabling ICT to Enable Health Service Delivery-Part One; The Attempt!

2016-02-04T02:09:00.000-08:00

"ICT is an Enabler"! I am sure you have heard that several times at all sorts of fora and guess it has become one of those slogans that we are used to that hardly mean anything or if it does not have that much. But what does it mean to "enable"? If we can crack that may it would significantly influence the way we prepare our ICT professionals for the workplace. According to Dictionary.com, it means "to make able, give power, means, competence or ability to, authorize". My question then and still is how does ICT enable, Health, Governance, Agriculture, Education, Tourism and Finance among others? What kind of training ought we to deliver to expose our students to if they are to enable these sectors? Or we are training people who assume that the world ought to come to them to solve their problems.

In November 2014, I was invited to lead a program whose focus was ICT and Health. The invitation came from a team working with Youth With A Mission UK and the leadership at the International Health Sciences University. I did share with them some of these questions and requested for an opportunity to answer them, this time, using health as a case-study. We designed a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied ICT and Health Leadership that was later to commence in February 2015. The key question was how do we get ICT graduates (mainly fresh from University) to have a deeper understanding of the health sector, to empower them to develop solutions that are appropriate to the challenges of the health service delivery? My conviction was that it was not so much about the coding or developing apps but rather the clear understanding of the challenges and how they impacted the quality of service.
The program design focused on equipping the students with workplace skills, leadership, critical thinking, engagement, and a structured approach to execution.

What are we doing differently?

Emma Opio from 1st Cohort now in India for one year
with Taata Consulting Services in India

The program does not teach how to code; the belief was that if you are passionate enough this you can learn on your own.
The other point of emphasis was that it had to be a full-time program such that we can dedicate time and resources to the students to enable them fully gain these skills.
The third and quite important was that the program had to allow non-techies (non-ICT graduates) to join, and the intention was to enable co-creation and multi-discipline approach to problem-solving.
There is opportunity for global & local internship placements for qualifying students
Last but not least we had to restrict the class size, we do not exceed 25 students per intake.

The program has three major segments;

Benjamin (in the Middle) with Community Health worker
from Mengo Hospital seeking to understand how ICT could
Integrated in Community Health Work delivery.

Content Segment; students are exposed to content areas that we believe are essential to the world of work.
Industry/Community interface segment; students are required to interface with the health service providers, engage in learning; agree on challenges; and propose ICT solutions to the challenges.
Application Segment; together with industry partners students will work on a prototype in a period not exceeding three months.

So what are we learning?
To-date we have had 25 students go through the program and are now recruiting for the third intake starting in March 2016. We are noticing a couple of things;

The challenges in the health service delivery are not as obvious as a simple, smart phone app.
Unless you spend time with the health service providers and appreciate their pain, you cannot ably design appropriate ICT-enabled solutions for them.
ICT is only but a small piece of the challenge and puzzle; there is a need for more "people" on the job.

Students (1st four from the left) in the Suburbs of Kansanga
on a Community Health Challenges Need-Finding Exercise
Users may not necessarily appreciate their challenges and see the potential solutions from ICTs.
For ICT to be integrated within the typical healthcare environment, requires more than sales pitch, it is an engagement process that can be tedious.
No single ICT training program has a deliberate approach to enabling the students to enable. We are training for an ideal ICT industry that does not exist.

So have I answered my questions? I would say not yet, still work in progress and requires engagement from all the stakeholders. One thing is for sure; our ICT sector will only enable if it is relevant to the different sectors. We need to expose our ICT students to the different sectors, and if we have sufficient work then we can see the growth of the sector beyond the sale of computers, phones, and associated accessories.

Let’s enable ICT to ENABLE healthcare system!

Click here for more program information
Click here to apply for the Postgraduate Certificate in Applied ICT & Health Leadership

Can our Universities become Innovation Hubs?

2013-09-03T11:34:00.003-07:00

In the recent past we have witnessed great stories of students' winning accolades one after the other from our universities. This is definitely very exciting. Many people that I have met ask, is this a one off or there is a deliberate effort to facilitate innovations at our Universities? Truth is, it is more of a “one-off’ than a deliberation effort and more often than not individual effort.

Most of our universities in the region operate the ivory tower mentality with limited interaction with the industry or communities within which they exist. A lot attention is placed on conforming to the academic requirements and we miss to catch and recognize amazing stuff being developed in our midst. However is it possible that our universities can transform themselves from being content dispensers to innovation hubs? I am sure that is a tall order to break but it is possible.

Our universities are “Silo” structured that inter-disciplinary learning hardly exists. The grooming stages are dotted with a process that is structured to produce a straight product for single use. Most of the innovations that are award winning have had a strong inter-disciplinary component. Take for example; the “Win-Senga” a maternal health application that is intended to save mothers using mobile devices. Conceived and developed by Information Technology, Computer Science, and Software Engineering students and mentored by Medical Doctor. They have had a number of hurdles to overcome in a system that is not wired to support innovations. Are there mechanisms in place to support these innovators in one or the other? Even the very basic institutional recognition would go a long way to inspire many. And I am talking of a simple recognition say at the graduation ceremony much as they are yet to graduate. Not that they should have a “Bill Board” in their honor but courteous recognition would go a long way. You can’t be a student centered university when you can’t recognize students’ efforts.

Picture 1: Win-Senga App under trail at a clinic

Difficult to pass on a skill you have not practiced

On the other hand we could be expecting too much from this system. Most of the lecturers/teachers in our institutions have limited exposure of the industry they are training for. For example one to teach business applications programming or networking and you have never had an attempt to develop one application and deploy it or set up a network leaves a lot to be desired. Universities in the developed world professors have a rich industry experience and thus teach from a reality perspective as opposed to a text book mentality. We ought to allow more industry-academia linkages by encouraging more practicing professional to get involved in the delivery of programmes. When Universities interface with Industry the results that emerge are extra-ordinary.

We are not wired to identify talent

Every year students work on project some of these are really phenomenal, with commercial potential. The unfortunate bit is that the all these projects will in most cases end up in boxes and somewhere in a store never to resurface. Is it the university to blame or those that work on the projects and lack the initiative to take them forward. I am sure the blame game wont yield much. Universities lack supporting structures to follow through these potentially viable solutions. There is significant value in Universities being interested in the potential commercial value of student projects. This could be an entirely different business line from which significant equity could be generated. Research in Motion (manufacturer's of Blackberry) was born at the University of Waterloo in Canada and its current headquarters sit right outside the University of Waterloo campus. The RoI (Return on Investment) for the University of Waterloo has been incredible. The number of research grants that the university has received from Research in Motion in is Millions of Dollars. It is serious business to support innovations. With redundant land that most of our public universities have it is possible to set up an innovation hubs though Public-Private Partnerships. These facilities could be run on a purely commercial basis and what comes to mind is the Design Factory in Finland. Actually government could allocate some of the youth fund to set up such facilities.

We need to establish mechanisms that spur and nurture talent for the future of this country lies with those that are passionate about something and are actively doing something about it--adding value to society.

So is it possible for Universities to become innovation hubs....YES it is possible if we are interested and committed to it.

The Certificate Mentality! Is the desire Killing our Ingenuity & Ability to Learn!

2011-09-28T02:15:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in writing a proposal for funding, that intended to provide skills in Mobile Applications Development. Over 100 students were selected to join the all expense paid for training. On day one of the orientation one the students asked me, "Shall we at the end of the training receive certificates?" My answer was; only those that complete the required project implementation will receive certificates. Over the next weeks the class enrollment dropped to 60 students and only close to 40 have completed the training. The fact that I had encountered this before from both young and old, I found myself seriously thinking about this issue of certificates and what implications it does have on the ability to free ourselves to learn. Every training, workshop and yes sometimes meeting there is a certificate being issued and sometimes after being demanded by the participants.

The desire and demand for certificates is driving many of us to attend trainings that do not necessarily make us any better beings but rather an accumulation of papers. I facilitate a number of trainings and in most cases it is quite evident the purpose is not to learn. If you could just present them the certificates they would glorify you.

NGO's and Development partners with their capacity building paradigm have made it even more complicated especially with the facilitation that comes with it. At the districts or local governments its a full time job. NGO's compete for participants since this to an extent is an accountability issue. Participants have to decide which training to attend depending on the expected benefits. In many cases the capacity being provided does not add significant value to the performance of an individual or even still the organization.

My Thoughts

1. Its all about you; whatever training you go, it ought to significantly add value to you first and secondly the organization. Sounds strange!

2. Your time Your Value; any minute spent that does not add value to you is time wasted no two ways about it. Evaluate the demand for your time and invest it where the return is good.

3. Its not about the number of certificates its about what you are capable of doing that will place you out of the crowds

4. Know yourself areas of weakness and strength most importantly your career plans. Not every certificate is value addition to your career plans

5. Do something for yourself; many of us tow the organizational lines and forget about ourselves that when your life in the organization comes to an end you realize how less worthy you are minus the organization.

Hey do not over certify.......Do what you love doing! Personally everything I am doing not been to class to study I have taught my self, and no regrets so far!

You are Limited by Your Imagination!!

2010-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

How far does your imagination take you? Do you ever imagine what you are capable of doing and what great accomplishments you can make if put your thought to it? Who defines your reality? Society, friends or trends? Get hold of yourself and begin to imagine what if you put your mind to it could be achieved. Many of us our world view is defined by those around us and not necessary what we think can be done. Your current situation is defined by your ability to imagine what is possible! Imagine Greatness, Greatness it shall be at your footsteps. Go imagine and let yourself be....take control of the world and not the world to take control of you.

The Innovations Secrets of Steve Jobs

2010-10-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.slideshare.net/cvgallo/7-innovation-secrets-of-steve-jobs?from=share

Amazing stuff

Enjoy reading

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results [Albert Einstein]

2010-10-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Do you sometimes wonder why you keep on getting the same results, and you never bothered to evaluate the processes that you go through to do what you do. We rarely evaluate ourselves to assess what our competencies and see where we need to improve or need leverage, support so as to improve. Think about it organisations come up with strategic plans, with grand visions BUT the processes never change so what would you expect? You want a different result, think through your processes otherwise you are destined for insanity.....

Who told you YOU CANT?

2010-10-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have met people who have resigned to fate and in most cases fate that has been bestowed on them by society. I honestly feel sorry for them. In this world there is only YOU with a purpose that your creator wanted you to achieve. Many times our beliefs and indeed it is true are influenced by the society that we live in. Our role models have a lot of influence on our ability to be. Let us face it, is that the best mirror for you? As we grow up we develop interests and sometimes these are thrown out the window because someone thinks its useless and you also think that you are useless. Our mind is like a car where you take it, it will diligently take you there. You are in total control of your destiny and not society. You who can read this post are in a position to inspire yourself before others can inspire you. You must be ready to be inspired in order to get inspired. Believe that it can be and it will be. What you focus becomes your reality. You attract what you think about. Think positive and positive results will begin to emerge. You will see opportunities all around. Life is a journey and a wonderful journey at that if you choose to celebrate every little success. Do not lament for that is wasted energy, pick up your pieces and celebrate something that is more energizing than lamenting. Yes You can if you believe You Can! Inspire, believe in yourself and you will begin to see possibilities and opportunities all around!

Education is a Wonderful thing

2010-10-04T00:07:00.001-07:00

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/education-is-a-wonderful-thing/

Becoming a master-asker: 10 keys to asking powerful questions

2010-10-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

http://michaelmcqueenblog.wordpress.com/

Storytelling: the Secret to Impacting & Influencing Young People

2010-10-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

http://michaelmcqueenblog.wordpress.com/

Do you Know what you are Capable of???

2010-10-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

I have interacted with a number of students in my 10 years at Makerere University. I have noticed with concern that a number of students do not have a sense of what they are capable of. That is quite dangerous! Discussing last night with friends in Mbarara it was raised that our education systems do not enable us to identify our passions but rather does everything possible to "Professionalize Us" through compartmentalizing our education training. Many of us have gone to school but are not educated. I am not sure whether we at University are doing anything sensible to inspire our students. How do we engage our students to inspire them...my brain is in fast forward mode wondering what can be done. I am sure it is within our means to change the trend BUT how?

Our Education System

2009-05-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

What went wrong? And when did it go wrong? And who is to blame? How come everybody is after passing exams and the rest who cares? As someone working at the University, I have heard so many people critize the quality of our graduates, yes we have our own challenges but is the University entirely to blame? Put it is this way if of the 16+ years of our education system these kids have only 3 - 4years at University and this is at the end of the process how much share of the blame must the university shoulder? Lets use the scenario of baking a cake if you bake a cake and give it to me for icing and decoration should I shoulder the responsibility of the qaulity of the cake interms of the content inside? Again more questions than answers? What are your thoughts?