Partnership between universities and industry is critical in ensuring uptake of digital-based solutions in the processing of lands records in Kenya.
The Technical University of Kenya (TU-K) VC Prof. Benedict Mutua, who was speaking during the 3rd Regional Research Conference themed; Data, Innovation and Technology for Land Governance said that the conference is taking place when the university has set up a base for big data research and quality information in land administration that is helpful in both private and public sectors.
The two-day conference was jointly organised by the National Land Commission, the National Research Fund (NRF), the Ministry of Lands, Public Works and Urban Development, TU-K, University of Nairobi and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Prof. Mutua noted that the university is partnering with the Ministry of Lands and state agencies to implement digital solutions, including artificial intelligence.
“We are creating a huge data-base and now, we want to work with National Land Commission so that we have the technical expertise and also the social expertise. As a university, we are hands-on,” the VC said.
Ministry of Information, Communication, and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo who was the chief guest during the conference, highlighted the critical role universities among other research institutions play in growing the economy through the uptake of new technologies.
“There is a wide array of opportunities of partnership between the Ministry of Information, Communication and Digital Economy, Ministry of Lands, and the National Land Commission,” he said.
The CS highlighted that the government will fast-track the adoption of Artificial Intelligence and data in implementing land reforms to safeguard the security of processes, therefore ensuring transparency in the sector and weed-out corrupt practices.
Researchers, policy makers, practitioners, private sector players, civil society, and other
stakeholders deliberated on issues including: the nexus between land and climate change, climate-smart land governance and administration: opportunities and challenges, climate change adaptation as well as indigenous and contemporary knowledge management systems.
Other areas of discussion included; gendered approaches towards climate-smart land management and administration, carbon trading in the region and emerging land issues.
Prof. Mutua highlighted that TU-K has launched new PhD, Masters and short courses which are in line with the theme of the conference. The courses include: PhD in Geospatial Sciences and Master of Science in Land Administration. Short courses included; Geospatial data mining in R programming language, Remote sensing image analysis in Google earth engine, Topographic mapping and object extraction from drone captured imagery and Automation of Land Administration processes.
