Art « Analogue Digital

Category: Art

Jan

2010

The innovation center

KICK

While in Kisumu, I made sure to stop by the Kisumu Innovation Centre – Kenya (KICK), a for-profit enterprise that works with artisans to design new products for export and bring them to market. We got lost on the way to KICK, mostly because it is deep within Kibuye Market, the largest open market in East Africa. The place is truly remarkable.

I entered the meeting wondering whether I was at KICK (formerly an NGO that trained artisans) or ZIWA (a spin-off for-profit that dealt with trading). It turned out both KICK and ZIWA had gone under in 2003 due to mismanagement and corruption. Three very brave Kenyans revived KICK In 2005 as a social enterprise and took a full three years to pay off KICK/ZIWA’s former debt to the artisans and landlord.

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Jan

2010

Art Business Day-to-Day Informal Manufacture Materials Urban

2 notes

Scrap sculptor

In Kenya, informal craftsmen are known as jua kali. When jua kali complete their apprenticeships, they save enough money to buy a welding machine, obtain premises, and start a workshop in the informal sector. This is the story of Moses, who established his workshop six years ago along Ngong Road. He started by fabricating typical furniture pieces, but switched to sculpture three years ago when he came across an interested European buyer. Now he makes these high-end sculptures out of scrap metal and is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the area.

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Analogue Digital explores how human systems interact with digital ones: how interfaces affect our relationship with the world, how craft culture and modern technology are colliding in unprecedented ways, and how to reach those who have yet to cross the digital divide.

I'm Steve Daniels. I study the transformative impact of technology on individuals and societies. I am the founder of the Better World by Design conference at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design and a founding partner of Revolution x Design, a Providence-based research center that uses design to address meaningful, real-world problems. Currently, I work at IBM Research, where I study mobile social computing in emerging markets.

I am particularly interested in how people create, adapt, and use technology in resource-constrained environments, which I have written about in my book Making Do: Innovation in Kenya's Informal Economy, which you can read here.

I also design and develop websites. Here's my portfolio.