Kenya ICT Board: Grant for web and mobile phone applications now open

The Ministry of Information and Communications, through the Kenya ICT Board is now accepting proposals for the Tandaa Digital Content Grant. Great and here is the press release:

 

Call for proposals: July 21- Monday August 22, 2011 (Midnight)
Grant amount: $ 10,000 per individuals; $ 50,000 per company; $ 150,000 matching grant for established companies
Number of grants to be awarded in 2011: at least 30Eligibility: Kenyan citizen, companies registered in Kenya
Categories: Private Sector Innovation, Government Data Applications
The Ministry of Information and Communications, through the Kenya ICT Board is now accepting proposals for the Tandaa Digital Content Grant. The grant is offered to Kenyan citizens and companies registered in Kenya for the development of innovative web or mobile phone applications. Grants of up to $ 50,000 for companies and $ 10,000 for individuals and teams will be offered through the program.The objective of the grant is to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity while promoting economic growth in the sector. For many companies that develop web and mobile solutions, access to funding to grow their company is a huge challenge. By supporting entrepreneurs with the funds they need to successfully take their products to market, the grant hopes to grow the number of relevant and local web and  mobile applications available to Kenyans.

The Kenya ICT Board awarded fifteen grants in 2010 and hopes to award at least 30 grants in 2011. The grant is available to individuals and companies in any sector and the Kenya ICT Board encourages any individual or company with ideas for web or mobile applications to apply.

Category 1: Private sector innovation
The Tandaa Digital Content Grant is divided into two categories: Government Open Data and Private Sector Innovation.

In the Private Sector category, the Kenya ICT Board will select the most innovative proposals that demonstrate long term business viability. Proposal in this category must respond to a demonstrated market need and have a positive impact on the community it seeks to serve.

In 2010, the Kenya ICT Board awarded seven grants in this category including a diary farmer payment application and a social media marketing product.

Category 2: Government Data Applications

On July 8, the Government of Kenya made 290 datasets publicly available and accessible through an Open Data portal. Now, the Kenya ICT Board will support entrepreneurs to develop web and mobile applications that utilize the data to provide services or products for citizens.

Eduweb, an online school portal that use data from the Ministry of Education to provide a service for parents selecting schools for their children, was among seven grants awarded in 2010.

Eligibility
Kenyan citizens above 18 are eligible to apply for the grant. Companies officially registered in Kenya are eligible to apply for the grant.

Matching grant for established companies
A new feature of the second round of the Tandaa Digital Content Grant offers established companies an opportunity to participate in the program. Companies founded at least 10 year ago with  over 40 members of staff are invited to summit their proposals for a web or mobile application. The companies must match the grant in full. This categories allows otherwise profitable ICT companies to develop innovative projects within a short period of time.

Business Plan training
Another new feature of the Tandaa Digital Content Grant is a training component designed into the proposal process. Over 2,000 people participated in the first round of the Digital Content Grant. However, more than half of the applicants struggled with the business plan sections of the proposal. As such, the Kenya ICT Board will offer business plan training to the top 150 applicants. The training will equip the most innovative applicants with the tools to help them secure funding and grow the business–regardless of wether they are awarded the grant.

Grants Pre-application workshops
There will be five workshops in the following venues:

Town Date Venue Time
Nakuru Tuesday 26th July, 2011 Kabarak University 9am – 11am
Kakamega Friday 29th July, 2011 Masinde Muliro University 9am – 11am
Garissa Tuesday 2nd August, 2011 Garissa – Hiddig Hotel 9am – 11am
Mombasa Friday 5th August, 2011 Mombasa Polytechnic Uni 9am – 11am
Nairobi Tuesday 9th August, 2011 KICC 8am – 10am

Please visit www.ict.go.ke for more information

 

For questions and queries please contact:Kaburo Kobia
Project Manager, Local Digital Content
Kenya ICT Board


Kennedy Kachwanya1087 Posts

--- Kennedy Kachwanya is a technology blogger interested in mobile phones both smart and dumb, mobile apps, mobile money, social media, startups ecosystem and digital Savannah. New media must not forget the strength of old tech.

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