Strathmore University in collaboration with Oracle has opened a centre of Excellence for Oracle at the university's research centre @iLabAfrica. The facility, funded by a grant from Oracle, will be used for a variety of Oracle training workshops and activities for university faculty and students, high school teachers and students, and technology entrepreneurs.

This Centre of Excellence at @iLabAfrica will create opportunities for Kenyan youth to gain technology-related skills that can enable them to work across industries and borders. The IT skills gap represents a challenge for Kenya. The new Centre of Excellence @iLabAfrica provides a vital tool to expand technology education and help to close the gap.

Kenya has identified teacher training in computer science as a critical building block in its skills capacity building work. Oracle Academy completed its inaugural educator training event at @iLabAfrica for educators from Strathmore University, Equity Foundation, and iHub in July.  The five-day Oracle Academy Java Fundamentals course prepared teachers to cascade critical skills to nearly 2000 students in the coming year as part of ongoing relationships with Oracle Academy to develop IT skills in Kenya.

"There are very few jobs today that don't require some sort of ICT understanding, skill or experience," said Dr. Gilbert Saggia, Country Leader, Oracle Kenya. "In a fast-growing economy like Kenya, investing in ICT skills is imperative for business and government alike. Oracle is proud to work alongside organisations like Strathmore University to introduce a world-class training facility to support skills development in the country."

Oracle is committed to developing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills around the world, including in Kenya, and key initiatives like the Centre of Excellence at @iLabAfrica support this goal to develop a deep and robust pool of ICT skills to underpin the country's technology transformation.

Dr Fred Matiang'i who graced the event encouraged skill enhancement in the ICT sector to grow the industry from tender grounds.