Daily Archives: December 3, 2021

Back in 2009, I was looking for ways to combine my interest in environmental policy with my interest in effective organizational management. I had always considered these two areas separate, but the more I examined the field of organizational management in the 21st century, the more I saw environmental issues becoming central to the field of management. This led to my 2010 book, Sustainability Management, and the development of Columbias Master of Science program in Sustainability Management. As we designed the curriculum, we developed an area of management study we required of all students that we called: the physical dimensions of sustainability management. This included: energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management, climate science, environmental science, ecology, toxicology, hydrology, green architecture, and other topics that had a physical or scientific component that managers needed to understand in addition to typical management topics such as finance, organizational management, strategy, marketing, quantitative analysis, financial and performance management, and human resource management.

In the decade-plus since then, we have broadened the field to include issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access and added courses on forests, public space, the circular economy, corporate sustainability reporting, sustainable fashion, and a variety of new and fascinating topics. The area that has achieved the most attention has been sustainability finance developed and led by my colleague, Professor Satyajit Bose. We have pioneered a range of courses in this area, including green accounting, energy finance, climate finance and sustainable development, financing the clean energy economy, energy markets and innovation, sustainable investing and economic growth, and impact finance. New courses are being developed every semester, and sustainability finance has become very attractive to many of our students.

Last week, my colleague, environmental law professor Michael Gerrard, alerted me to some new developments in the green finance field. He sent me the link to a Bloomberg piece by William Patrick Geor Louch and Alastair Marsh reporting that Private Equity Propels Top ESG Hires Into 7-Digit Pay League. According to these reporters:

Private equity firms, along with hedge funds, are significantly ramping up the amount theyre willing to pay specialists in sustainable finance, as a field once at the lower end of the pay scale moves closer to the top. According to headhunters, a growing number of ESG specialists are now being propelled into a completely different income bracket from the one they inhabited just a few years ago. Thats as the market for environmental, social and governance assets hurtles past $35 trillion.

This is happening because the capital markets have finally figured out that corporations are not immune to environmental risk. Climate-induced drought and extreme weather can disrupt operations. Toxics and invasive species can harm ecosystems, and when contagious viruses are involved, can bring economies screeching to a halt as they disrupt supply chains which turn out to be less durable than we had thought. Some wealthy people and public pension funds are insisting upon green investments. We are also learning that just as companies need to pay attention to financial and reputational risk, they must also understand and manage their environmental risks. Corporate concern for reputational risk has grown to include areas such as diversity, equity, and treatment of workers. Corporate performance in these areas is increasingly an object of consumer questioning and consumer choice. Corporate governance, which in the U.S. has traditionally been a bastion of white male domination, is now subject to government and security market regulation. States like California are requiring diversity on corporate boards located within their jurisdiction. All of this requires management to pay more attention to issues of environmental impact, social impact, and corporate governance.

The mainstreaming of ESG resembles the growth of financial disclosure and the field of accounting back when the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was created and tried to make financial risk more transparent during the post-depression economic recovery of the 1930s. In the 1920s, stock market risk resembled a crooked casino. FDR and JFKs dad Joseph Kennedy (the first SEC chair), changed that and built the modern stock market. Accounting began its climb to professional status during that time. I believe that sustainability management is seeing a similar evolution right now.

For some observers, this trend became obvious at COP26, the periodic trade show of the climate industry, which seemed to have been dominated by corporations. According to the New York Times opinion writer Christopher Caldwell:

The big annual United Nations forum for debate on climate change ended this month in Glasgow in a way that left many attendees bewildered. Money men have taken the thing over. COP26, as the event was called, was less like its predecessors and more like a second Davos the January meeting of the World Economic Forum where the global economys moguls and regulators meet to map out our economic future. Dozens of private jets arrived for COP26, bringing investors and fossil-fuel lobbyists in embarrassing profusion. The finance writer Gillian Tett noted that between 2015 and today, the tribe of COP attendees had been transformed from one of environment ministers, scientists and activists to one of business leaders, financiers and monetary officials. That is bound to render the movements tactics and goals less democratic

Perhaps, but I dont see much democracy in global diplomacy in the first place. You have diplomats from democratic states negotiating with diplomats from autocratic states, and diplomats from the developed world negotiating with diplomats from the developing world. National self-interest dominates these discussions. The public is not consulted and the linkage from unelected diplomats to elected officials and then to the public at large is tenuous at best. After 26 of these meetings, awareness has been raised, and climate change is slowly moderating, but far too slowly for anyone to believe the status quo is working.

We know the problem and have even figured out the solution: We need to make a transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to one built on renewable energy. The transition will cost a lot of money and lots of money will be made and lost while its underway. That seems to have attracted plenty of attention from people who ignored environmental sustainability before. I have a hard time seeing that as a bad development. Caldwell is correctly concerned about the entrance of these financially self-interested folks to an arena previously dominated by mission-driven advocates, and conflict-averse relatively ineffectual bureaucrats. As Caldwell concludes in his Times piece:

At Glasgow a few self-nominated representatives from a very rich industry laid claim to a special role in shaping the human future. In doing so, they opened a rift. Climate activists were skeptical, noting that many alliance members continue to be involved in financing oil extraction. The bankers of the alliance, on the other hand, seem to believe society is ready to follow their lead. Voters, not bankers, should be the judge of that.

If only there were some place for voters to express themselves. Again, I dont see much democracy in global diplomacy. I see sustainability and climate policy as an arena for competing elites. The government leaders in charge so far have made some progress, but the forces controlling the fossil fuel corporations have dominated. They already play a special role in shaping the human future. This is not something new. What is new is that some of them have figured out that their wealth will not be worth much on a planet degraded by the onslaught of environmental destruction. They have discovered the reality of environmental risk. I think its called enlightened self-interest.

Yes, self-interest is now at play in an arena that was once the province of mission-driven advocates of environmental sustainability. But heres my take on this development, and I confess that its based on decades of being shut out of the mainstream. My interest in environmental policy began in the fall of 1975 when I wandered into Professor Lester Milbraths graduate course on environmental policy and politics at SUNY/Buffalo. Back then, environmental protection was a fringe issue, far from the mainstream of policy and governance. In 1977 I started working at EPA staffing a working group on public participation in Americas brand-new water pollution programs. EPA was seven years old and, five years earlier, Congress had passed the 1972 Water Act over Richard Nixons veto. In 1980 I worked in the Superfund toxic waste clean-up program, and in 1985 I worked on the program to eliminate leaking underground storage tanks. In 1987 I was able to start a tiny concentration in environmental policy at Columbias School of International and Public Affairs. In 2002 we started the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program at Columbia. Through all those years until Barack Obama became president, the environment was a small and unimportant part of the political scene. We sat at the kids table. But then-President Obama started discussing climate change with global leaders, and by the time we established our masters program in Sustainability Management in 2010, I could sense the growing momentum behind the field of environmental sustainability and sustainability management.

These seven-figure ESG jobs and the corporate leaders at COP26 mean that sustainability management has hit the big time. Yes, there are dangers in this development, but there is opportunity as well. The scale of change needed to build a renewable resource-based economy is huge. We need capital and organizational capacity to achieve this change. We also need public policy and public investment. The Biden Administration understands this, and the presidents infrastructure law and Build Back Better bill provide the public leadership we need. We need both elected leaders and business leaders to get this job done. We are in a new and scarier world, but its arrival couldnt be timelier.

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Sustainability Management Hits the Big Time - Biden-Harris Administration - State of the Planet

First published DEC 2, 2021 Updated Dec 2, 2021

Economy

Comment: The state of the climate, resource depletion and degradation of nature requires immediate action, and this need could be met by moving our model of production and consumption to a circular economy.

A circular economy is characterised by designing waste out of the system, the highly efficient use of resources, and a continuous recirculation of post-consumer materials, while drawing from renewable energy. It is a strategy that addresses not only waste and pollution but also long-term resource security and price volatility.

It provides a new model for sustaining human wellbeing within planetary boundaries and provides opportunities to improve competitiveness and economic resilience.

Contrast these characteristics with the traditional system we currently operate, the so-called linear economy where more than 90 percent of materials extracted for the global economy are used only once, and then thrown away. Economically valuable materials are disposed of while pressing environmental challenges are created.

These facts are drivers for the need to transition towards a circular economy which would offer great challenges and tremendous opportunities to develop clean innovations based on values and systems that relate to Aotearoa New Zealand, that involve Mori and encompass Te Tiriti.

Transitioning towards such a system requires making conscious choices and changing how we design, manufacture, sell, consume, use, and manage materials, products and services. At the same time, it requires innovative technologies, products, strategies, and approaches to achieve sustainability and generate economic prosperity.

Achieving a circular economy requires the efforts of all members of society. Universities are particularly well-placed to contribute to the creation of a sustainable future through research and teaching. We are at the forefront of these activities which means we generate new knowledge and innovations that provide solutions to interconnected social, economic and environmental challenges. We must combine efforts from different groups to catalyse the scientific and technological expertise of universities, industry and government agencies.

The circular economy requires new skills and mindsets. Without adequate education and training programmes in place, these skills would be unavailable to industry and communities. It is crucial for universities to educate a new generation of graduates who can bring circularity and sustainability mindsets to this space. There is urgent demand from industry seeking skill-development in circular economy, waste minimisation and resource recovery technologies. From a university perspective, our response to this need from industry has the added benefit of preparing our graduates for the challenges of resource limitation, an area of increasing focus for New Zealand and international industries.

In-depth research is required to support uptake of this new model and overcome the barriers to circular economy ideas and implementation. Focusing on fundamental research and basic sciences, as the bedrock of advancement, will lead us to applied solutions.

The circular economy will require the tapping of transformative digital, engineering and biological technologies to enable cleaner and more efficient extraction, production and waste management. Some of the technology required is still underdeveloped or unproven. Applied scientific research will help to upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors, facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development and support domestic technology development. These innovative applied solutions can be advanced in all sectors of the economy: from traditional resource sectors to manufacturing to services.

For the circular economy to flourish, a change in mindset is needed in every segment of society, from government to business and consumers. Economic and organisational innovations create new methods and management systems that support closing the loops and increasing resource efficiency.

As we move toward a circular economy in Aotearoa New Zealand, we must ensure that our systems are based on values, ideas, and knowledge of all New Zealanders our inequality and climate change challenges will not be overcome without ensuring that.

Transformational changes required are more likely to succeed if there is a strong role for Mori that is consistent with Te Tiriti. The wellbeing of the environment and people are embedded in the Mori cultural mindset. This acknowledges that much can be achieved if we work closely with Mori researchers, communities and businesses in a way that respects rangatiratanga (the right for Mori to make decisions for Mori) and aligns with Te Ao Mori, Mtauranga Mori (Mori knowledge), and kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection).

And further, investing in innovation and technological solutions for circularity, in a way that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi, supports or creates the jobs, communities, businesses and markets that contribute to solving New Zealands intergenerational challenges.

Originally posted here:

All round benefits of NZ adopting a circular economy - Newsroom

( Vit-Mar - Shutterstock)

The question I have found myself trying to answer more than any other over the past few years (apart from my daughter asking when the COVID-19 pandemic will finally end) has been "Why move to the cloud? Is it really the IT nirvana people say it is?"

Like many of my colleagues working in technology, I have traditionally responded in rapid fire format with what I always assumed to be the strongest arguments, which typically include 1) the ability to scale 2) easier to maintain security standards 3) cost savings 4) reduced infrastructure complexity and 4) better IT resource optimization.

These arguments are all valid and fully support a move to the cloud, but they focus primarily on the internal benefits to an organization. A while back, I realized (during a sort of "Grinch Stole Christmas" epiphany) that the greatest benefits of moving to the cloud are not so much the internal IT efficiencies but rather the exceptional value it brings to employees and customers. In my view, this is the most compelling reason why companies should be moving to the cloud because it's the cloud which enables you to create truly exceptional and valuable experiences for both employees and customers, which when combined we call the experience economy. The nirvana of experiences!

For me, there are three main reasons why moving to cloud is important for creating this nirvana experience:

Companies today must accept and embrace the fact that their customers are always on and always connected whether they are B2B, B2C, or C2C. We can debate all we want about people spending too much time on their phones and in front of laptops, but the reality is they are connected non-stop, and this will never change. Like the invention of the wheel, once people experienced how it changed their lives, they were never again without it. Such is our destiny with technology, whether we like it or not.

And no industry is immune to this new reality. The local bank branch may close at 5pm but their customers are still banking online at midnight. The shoe factory may close for the weekend, but its customers are still buying shoes online on Sunday. And the local department of motor vehicles may not be open from 12-1pm, but the citizen still wants to complete an online license renewal during a lunch break.

And the pandemic has only made this argument even more compelling. "Analog" customers who were reluctant to embrace online services such as video conferencing and e-commerce were forced into a new world overnight and "analog" businesses who were never planning a move to the digital space were right behind them willing or unwilling.

This evolution is important. If your customers are always connected and your company is not, they'll take their business to the company who is available because they are providing the better customer experience. With the technology today, it's just that easy. In the end, it's the customer who decides which experience is better, not the company.

This is why cloud is so important. With the hyper-connected customers out there today across multiple channels and countless connected devices, it becomes more compelling than ever that companies leverage the power of the cloud to maintain the high levels of interaction, real-time data collection and interpretation necessary for a unified customer experience.

Not only are your customers always on and always connected, but they quite rightfully expect to have access to the data they need, and want, in real time.

Customers are much more tech-savvy today than they were 10 or 15 years ago and, in many cases, they have been inspired by interacting with companies who have adopted a real-time data mindset. Companies like Uber, Netflix, Tesla, Amazon, and Google have clearly demonstrated to customers the power of real-time data - whether it's connected cars or movies on-demand. Customers are now asking, "Why can't my package delivery service work more like Uber?" or "Why isn't my bank more like Amazon?" This is known as the "Uberization" (or disruption) of a company or industry based on a new business model. In Uber's case, this was the slow-to-evolve taxi market which was turned upside down by a new real-time customer experience addressing a critical market need.

Experiences like these are dramatically changing expectations. Customers now expect to be notified in real-time if there's a suspected fraudulent claim being made on their account. They expectto know in real-time where their package or food delivery is. And they expect to know in real-time what the temperature of their house is or if their flight or train has been delayed.

With real-time expectations like these, it becomes critical for companies to deliver a flawless real-time customer experience. Leveraging the power of the cloud is the best way to ensure that these massive amounts of data, across so many touchpoints and systems, can truly be understood and shared all in real-time.

So often we forget that employees are customers too and perhaps your most important ones! Richard Branson is well known for saying that your customer experience will never be better than your employee experience. The point he is making is that if you don't provide the best tools and environment for your employees then how can you expect those employees to provide the best customer experience? It makes complete sense.

So how do you achieve this? You do this by putting the right data into the hands of those employees who are responsible for determining what a customer experience will be. Customer support teams who can't provide information in real-time on lost baggage, financial transactions or order status, will not be able to provide an optimal customer experience. And consequently, employees who can't do their jobs effectively by supporting their customers become frustrated, demotivated, and are far more likely to leave their jobs due to low levels of satisfaction.

And the way you deliver that amount of real-time data to your employees most effectively and efficiently is you guessed it with the cloud. Once again, getting this amount of data effortlessly and seamlessly into the hands of the right employees is no trivial task, but leveraging the power of cloud computing is the way to do it.

When we talk about the benefits of moving to the cloud, we often focus on the more IT-focused benefits. While these are indeed valid and make a strong case for the cloud, the greatest benefit is, in fact, the value you'll deliver to your customers and employees, together creating the experience economy.

Who would have thought that moving IT systems to the cloud could help you win customer trust, improve customer experience, and empower employees? Just think about it.

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Why Cloud? Its all about the experience economy! - Diginomica

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Commits $200M to Arts & Culture and Economic Impact in New York & Michigan

To ensure the program has immediate impact on the sector and regional economies, the Wilson Foundation will provide an additional $3.75 million annually over nine years in each region, for a total of $67.5 million, allowing grantmaking to begin in 2022 while the endowment is built.

Finally, the Wilson Foundation is awarding a total of $15 million in capital campaign gifts, $5 million each, to the Motown Museum in Detroit, Mich.; The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y.; and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly, Albright-Knox Art Gallery) in Buffalo, N.Y.

"We are building upon years of substantial investment by critical public funding streams and philanthropic funders that have helped these institutions become the cultural treasures and economic drivers they are today," said Dave Egner, president & CEO, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. "As a regionally focused foundation with a limited life, we saw a unique opportunity to make this significant contribution to impact the regions' quality of life and economy through jobs, tourism and more. We hope this annual operating support will help to strengthen the financial condition of these institutions and allow them to continue to develop creative, audience-centered initiatives that make them more inclusive, welcoming, and accessible places for all."

Of the $3.75 million in annual funding in Western New York,a total of $3 million will be dedicated to the following 13 institutions, including their annual grant allocation: Buffalo AKG Art Museum ($500,000 annually); Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park ($100,000 annually); Buffalo History Museum ($150,000 annually); Buffalo Museum of Science ($200,000 annually); Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra ($500,000 annually); Buffalo Zoo ($200,000 annually); Burchfield Penney Art Center ($100,000 annually); Explore & More: The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children's Museum ($200,000 annually); Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House ($100,000 annually); Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor and anchor institutions ($100,000 annually); National Comedy Center ($250,000 annually); Shea's Performing Art Center ($100,000 annually); and The Strong National Museum of Play ($500,000 annually).

Of the $3.75 million in annual funding in Southeast Michigan,a total of $3 million will be dedicated to the following 11 institutions, including their annual grant allocation: Arab American National Museum ($100,000 annually); Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History ($300,000 annually); Detroit Historical Society ($200,000 annually); Detroit Institute of Arts ($700,000 annually); Detroit Symphony Orchestra ($700,000 annually); Detroit Zoological Society ($150,000 annually); Holocaust Memorial Center ($100,000 annually); Michigan Opera Theatre ($200,000 annually); Michigan Science Center ($200,000 annually); Motown Museum ($200,000 annually); and The Henry Ford ($150,000 annually).

The overall impact of these gifts is significant as these unrestricted funds can be designated for general operating needs. Each organization will also co-design, in partnership with each Community Foundation and national consultants, metrics and benchmarks that support their goals and strategic plans.

"This is a transformational gift for Motown Museum. Though we have operated for 35 years in the black, we have never enjoyed the benefit of endowment dollars to support our operations. This important giftthe first of its kind for our museumis an investment in the future sustainability of our organization, and of Detroit," said Robin Terry, Chairwoman and CEO of the Motown Museum in Detroit.

"As one of the oldest public arts institutions in the United States, the Buffalo AKGArt Museumhas for decades supportedthe local and state economiesas a tax generator, cultural resource, and tourism anchor," saidJanne Sirn, PhD, Peggy Pierce Elfvin Directorof the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly, Albright-Knox Art Gallery)."The Wilson Foundation's remarkably generous support will empower the Buffalo AKGto activate the Seymour H. Knox Building, a zone of the museum that will be entirely free to the public and will welcome students, families, and visitors from across Western New York and around the world."

The Wilson Foundation is also dedicating $500,000 annually in each region to support other arts and culture nonprofits, primarily of small to medium size, across each region. These funds will be deployed flexibly based on organizational and community needs. Beginning in early 2022, each Community Foundation will work with sector leaders to conduct listening and engagement sessions to shape the specifics of this opportunity. The first grants will be awarded by the end of 2022.

The remaining $250,000 in annual funding in each region will support permanent capacity at each Community Foundation to manage and operate this endowment and grant program, which includes leading the efforts to advance inclusion and access within the grantees' individual operations and sector as a whole.

Since its inception in 2015, the Wilson Foundation has paid out more than $540 million in grants, including nearly $100 million within its "Entrepreneurship and Economic Development" focus area. In Western New York, this has included support for Launch NY, 43North, Open4, East Side Avenues, and more. In Southeast Michigan, this has included support for major projects including the New Economy Initiative's Inclusive Small Business Network Fund, Detroit's Strategic Neighborhood Fund, and more.

"Ralph had a deep and personal appreciation of the arts, and we recognize that arts and culture institutions collectively contribute to very fabric of community identity, making them essential in retaining and attracting top talent that fuel our business community. Through the Foundation's economic development focus, we are proud to invest in the long-term health of these organizations as economic drivers and in the cultural vibrancy of both regions," said Mary Wilson, Life Trustee, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. "While our aim was to make a substantial impact, we know there is more to be done and hope this gift will inspire others to continue to fund operations and endowment of cultural organizations across the sector."

ABOUT THE RALPH C. WILSON, JR. FOUNDATION:

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation is a grantmaking organization dedicated primarily to sustained investment in the quality of life of the people of Southeast Michigan and Western New York. The two areas reflect the devotion of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. to his hometown of Detroit and greater Buffalo, home of his beloved Buffalo Bills NFL team. Prior to his passing in 2014, Mr. Wilson provided that a significant share of his estate be used to continue a life-long generosity of spirit by funding the Foundation that bears his name. Based in Detroit, the Foundation began with a grantmaking capacity of $1.2 billion over a 20-year period, which expires January 8, 2035. This structure is consistent with Mr. Wilson's desire for the Foundation's impact to be immediate, substantial, measurable, and overseen by those who knew him best.For more information visitwww.rcwjrf.org.

Contacts: Claudia Hensley, Berlin Rosen, 310.496.9857Carly Strachan, RCWJRF, 313.460.8100

SOURCE Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation

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Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Commits $200M to Bolster Arts & Culture Sustainability and Economic Impact in Western New York & Southeast...

South Africas levels of unemployment are corroding our society and its social fabric. They are compounding deep and damaging development deficits in every community. Currently, unused labour is a wasted national asset whose value we are letting slip through our collective hands like sand, while the social problems caused by unemployment continue to mount in communities across the country.

The human toll is incalculable. In addition, if left unchecked, current levels of unemployment pose a risk to social stability. This would undermine the prospects for the very economic recovery on which employment relies. A vicious cycle indeed. How might we turn it around?

Of course, the priority is to get the economy into the kind of high gear that can create decent work at the scale required. Right now, however, markets are still reeling from the pandemic nor were they so healthy beforehand, either. The structural changes necessary to kick-start growth are formidable and even in a best-case scenario, will take time to yield results.

We dont have time. This is why direct public investment in employment and livelihoods is such a crucial component of the wider economic recovery agenda. Its advantage is that it can create jobs right now, while the crucial, but longer-term processes of market-based economic recovery gather momentum. And lets face it right now is when we need more jobs.

This is the sense of urgency that has informed the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in October 2020. After providing jobs and livelihood support to more than 550,000 people in Phase One in less than a year the stimulus aims to exceed this in Phase Two, launched in October 2021.

Phase Two of the stimulus includes a diverse portfolio of programmes designed to support employment creation and livelihoods, involving 15 implementing departments. The school assistants programme, which created more than 300,000 jobs for young people in Phase One, is back. A new cohort of more than 250,000 young people is already in post.

There are new programmes too, including a revitalised National Youth Service programme that will recruit 35,000 participants; public employment programmes in the metros; innovation to create jobs in waste value chains; a graduate programme in partnership with universities, and more all outlined here.

Among these new programmes is a focus on social employment, with the launch of a Social Employment Fund that will create work for 50,000 people. President Cyril Ramaphosa has explained its rationale:

We are working on the premise that there is no shortage of work to be done to address the many social problems in our society. The aim is to support the considerable creativity, initiative and institutional capabilities that exist in the wider society to engage people in work that serves the common good.

While the term social employment is new, its intention is to foreground the hard work already being done by civil society organisations to enable community-driven solutions to local problems. The work being undertaken takes many forms, from community safety initiatives to food kitchens, urban agriculture, early childhood development and the fight against gender-based violence. It enables dance, drama, public art, sport and the full gamut of activities needed to feed the soul even in the face of hunger and other deprivations.

What all of these forms of work share is that they serve the common good. At their best, they do so in ways that unlock local creativity and agency, building local participation and strengthening mutual support systems and resilience in communities.

Yet, too often, the work of civil society and community-based organisations is under-resourced, under-recognised and reliant on volunteer labour from within resource-poor communities. Resources are too thinly spread and the work can be hard to sustain. Instead, we need to build deep, dense networks of organisations able to knit communities together, contributing in diverse ways to a culture of participation in which people feel and indeed, are seen and heard. This, in turn, provides the scaffolding needed to strengthen meaningful partnerships with local government and other public bodies, in which the future is co-created rather than delivered.

Far from substituting for the vital roles of local government and other public bodies in delivering core infrastructure and services, social employment supports complementary community-driven activities, with the impacts of these likely to be strongest where collaborative partnerships with public bodies are possible. What matters, however, is to enable community initiative and agency alongside government delivery.

Core to the social employment approach is the recognition that unemployed people in communities are a powerful resource for development, and that even where labour might not have a market value, it has and can create social value. More to the point: even where peoples labour may have no market value, people have value and have value to offer to their communities, through their actions and engagement.

This is a far cry from the message that unemployed people currently receive, which casts them as dependent, as a burden, as surplus to the requirements of society. For many, this has deeply negative psycho-social impacts that manifest as depression and despair, converting all too easily into alienation and anger at a status quo that measures their value only as a commodity for which there is little demand.

What we need are instruments able to recognise and unlock the value that people have to offer, at the scale necessary to make an impact in communities creating employment in the process. The Social Employment Fund is one such instrument, intended to support organisations to deliver meaningful work at greater scale.

While the work needs to be non-profit in character, the focus on work that serves the common good is intentionally broad, on the assumption that communities are best placed to define it in their context. There is typically no shortage of ideas with the figure below providing just a taste of the kind of social imagination that a participatory process can produce.

Some of these forms of work have the potential to transition to social enterprise, with social employment providing a de-risking function as capacities and demand are built. Yet, desirable as transitions to enterprise-based activity are, there is no assumption that all forms of social employment can or should have a direct pathway into market-based activity reliant on a cost-recovery logic. Even where they do not, however, they often nevertheless contribute to economic development outcomes.

Take placemaking, for example. This is about transforming the use of public space in ways that build peoples sense of belonging, safety, access and ownership with opportunities for recreation and inspiration important too. The curation of regular activities that bring people together to use such spaces is a common ingredient. Often, enhanced community safety is one of the outcomes. This improves the enabling environment for local business activity and in addition, wherever people gather, market opportunities are created.

The critical challenge now is to institutionalise this approach on terms that do indeed deliver these outcomes. Part of the challenge is to do so at levels of scale, in a context in which opportunities to design for scale have been rare, despite the scale of social need. Key to the proof of concept here will be whether collaborative partnerships can be built, in which more capacitated organisations enable participation by grassroots organisations and strengthen them in the process.

Right now, the Presidential Employment Stimulus provides us with a unique sandbox for innovation in the use of public employment to create real social value for participants and communities alike. Can we seize the opportunity the Social Employment Fund creates, and use this development instrument to co-create a different kind of music? Can we dance to a different tune, in new forms of partnership learning new moves as we go? Lets try. DM/MC

Kate Philip writes this in her personal capacity.

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OPINIONISTA: Social employment creating work that serves the common good - Daily Maverick

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Victory Square Technologies Inc. (Victory Square or Company) (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), a company that provides investors access to a diverse portfolio of next generation technology companies in key sectors including: Web 3, Gaming, the Creator Economy, NFTs and the Metaverse, is pleased to announce that portfolio company, GameOn Entertainment Technologies Inc.(CSE: GET) (OTCQB: GMETF) (GameOn) has formed a strategic partnership with Polygon ($MATIC) and Polygon Studios to build NFT-Based games on their Ethereum-based scaling platform. The deal will see Polygon Studios provide non-dilutive funding to invest in 50% of GameOns ongoing product development costs. GameOns product team is spearheaded by Santi Jaramillo, former Head of Sports at Dapper Labs and creator of NBA Top Shot.

Polygon, a pioneering blockchain that has onboarded millions to the Web3 ecosystem, recently announced Polygon Studios and plans to commit USD$100 million to projects leading the transition to Web3. Investments include DraftKings, DeFine and now GameOn. MATIC, the native cryptocurrency of Polygon, recently outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchain-based game companies such as Forte have surpassed $1 billion valuations.

The Polygon blockchain boasts investors that include Mark Cuban, Kevin OLeary and many other high-profile investors. GameOn continues to deepen its relationship with the lucrative Indian market that is nascent and primed for NFT and blockchain adoption, including a recent expanded partnership with entertainment super app MX Player, and an investment from its parent company, Times Internet.

The Polygon Studios investment allows GameOn to offer the full stack of capabilities from the creation, minting and selling of NFTs, to the game layers it already deploys for white label customers such as prediction and fantasy games, like the Chibi Dinos partnership. For GameOn shareholders, this collaboration provides an opportunity to participate in the upside of the burgeoning crypto and NFT spaces, while accelerating GameOns product development in a non-dilutive manner.

Leveraging Polygons technology, GameOn continues to lean into blockchain and NFTs, bringing innovative gamification to the rapidly growing Web3 and metaverse economies, said Matt Bailey, GameOn CEO. Through resource-driving partnerships and M&A, well continue to double down on being the one-stop shop for gamification, including NFT-based games.

Polygon is dedicated to supporting companies that usher in the future of Web3, said Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon Co-Founder. GameOn is one of the fastest-growing game technology providers in the blockchain space. Were excited to support their development of NFT-based games on Polygon.

ABOUT GAMEON ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES INC.

GameOn (CSE: GET) (OTCQB: GMETF) (FSE: 9E7) provides media, entertainment and sports companies with the most innovative white label game technologies. Since completing the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator powered by Techstars in 2018, GameOn has secured white label projects with the. Through our innovative gamification technologies and meta-layers, including first-of-its-kind NFT integration, we bring fans closer to their favorite sports and entertainment content and increase engagement through community, competition and rewards.

GameOn has a dynamic and experienced management team led by its CEO, Matt Bailey (Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center), Chief Product Officer, Santiago Jaramillo (Dapper Labs, NBA Top Shot, EA Sports) and VP of Partnerships, Ryan Nowack (Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks, New York Rangers), as well as its Directors, J Moses (Take-Two Interactive), Shafin Tejani (Victory Square Technologies), Liz Schimel (Apple, Comcast, Meredith) and Carey Dillen (YYOGA, FIFA, IOC).

ABOUT POLYGON

Polygon is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building and connecting Secured Chains like Optimistic Rollups, zkRollups, Validium, etc., and Standalone Chains like Polygon POS, designed for flexibility and independence. Polygons scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with 500+ Dapps, ~567M+ txns, and ~6M+ daily txns. If you're an Ethereum Developer, you're already a Polygon developer! Leverage Polygons fast and secure txns for your Dapp, get started here.

Website | Twitter | Ecosystem Twitter | Studios Twitter | Reddit | Discord | Telegram | Instagram

ABOUT POLYGON STUDIOS

Polygon Studios is the Gaming and NFT arm of Polygon focused on growing the global Blockchain Gaming and NFT Industry and bridging the gap between Web 2 and Web 3 gaming through investment, marketing and developer support. The Polygon Studios ecosystem comprises highly loved games and NFT projects like OpenSea, Upshot, Aavegotchi, Zed Run, Skyweaver by Horizon Games, Decentraland, Megacryptopolis, Neon District, Cometh, and Decentral Games. If youre a game developer, builder or NFT creator looking to join the Polygon Studios ecosystem, get started here.Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Telegram | Tiktok | LinkedIn

Check out VictorySquare.com and sign up to VSTs official newsletter at http://www.VictorySquare.com/newsletter.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Shafin Diamond TejaniDirector and Chief Executive OfficerVictory Square Technologies Inc.www.victorysquare.com

For further information about Victory Square, please contact:

Investor RelationsContact Edge Communications GroupEmail: ir@victorysquare.comTelephone: 604 283-9166

ABOUT VICTORY SQUARE TECHNOLOGIES INC.Victory Square (VST) builds, acquires and invests in promising startups, then provides the senior leadership and resources needed for fast-track growth. VSTs sweet spot is cutting-edge tech thats shaping the 4th Industrial Revolution. Our corporate portfolio consists of 20+ global companies using AI, VR/AR, and blockchain to disrupt sectors as diverse as fintech, insurance, health and gaming.

What we do differently for startups

VST isnt your ordinary investor. With real skin in the game, were committed to ensuring each company in our portfolio succeeds. Our secret sauce starts with selecting startups that have real solutions, not just ideas. We pair you with senior talent in product, engineering, customer acquisition and more. Then we let you do what you do best build, innovate and disrupt. In 24-36 months, youll scale and be ready to monetize.

What we do differently for investors

For investors, we offer early-stage access to the next unicorns before theyre unicorns. Our portfolio represents a uniquely liquid and secure way for investors to get access to the latest cutting-edge technologies. Because we focus on market-ready solutions that scale quickly, were able to provide strong and stable returns while also tapping into emerging global trends with big upsides.

Victory Square integrates a strong ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) component throughout its operations. Our portfolio highlights minority entrepreneurs, often overlooked by traditional investors, including many from developing countries. We are also dedicated to giving back to the communities in which we serve and operate. The Companys mandate is to assist organizations through its time, talent and treasure. The Company is committed to organizations that provide services in the youth, mental health, special needs, sport, tech, education, marginalized groups, First Nations, and accessibility sectors.

VST is a publicly-traded company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (VST), Frankfurt Exchange (6F6) and the OTCQX (VSQTF).

For more information, please visit http://www.victorysquare.com.

ABOUT THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE (CSE)

The Canadian Securities Exchange, or CSE, is operated by CNSX Markets Inc. Recognized as a stock exchange in 2004, the CSE began operations in 2003 to provide a modern and efficient alternative for companies looking to access the Canadian public capital markets.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the outlook of the business of Victory Square and its portfolio companies, including, without limitation, statements relating to future performance, execution of business strategy, future growth, business prospects and opportunities of Victory Square and its related subsidiaries and portfolio companies and other factors beyond our control. Such forward-looking statements may, without limitation, be preceded by, followed by, or include words such as believes, expects, anticipates, estimates, intends, plans, continues, project, potential, possible, contemplate, seek, goal, outlook or similar expressions, or may employ such future or conditional verbs as may, might, will, could, should or would, or may otherwise be indicated as forward-looking statements by grammatical construction, phrasing or context. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of Victory Square. Although Victory Square believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Victory Square can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Although Victory Square believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking statements has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Victory Squares control, including, but not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the continuous disclosure materials of the Victory Square which are available under the Victory Squares profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Victory Square disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

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Victory Square Portfolio Company, GameOn, Announces a Strategic Partnership with Polygon Studios to Bring NFT-Based Games to the Masses -...

Traditional gaming is moving to the blockchain, and in more ways than one. CoinTelegraph recently reported on this, for the full deep dive check out the article here.

Lets revisit here why industry is about to explode and here is why:

Blockchain technology provides the most direct route to a Play-To-Earn economy that is global, inclusive and organically viral. Looking into the boom into blockchain gaming that is entering the Metaverse, let us look into a few games.

Alien Worlds, is a game built on the Wax blockchain. In the game, players compete for a scarce resource, TLM, which they use to enhance their power in the game by staking and voting in a DAO. Alien Worlds had over 1.5 million players in the past 30 days, surpassing Axie Infinity as the most popular crypto-based video game in the world. TLM is also an actual cryptocurrency that has doubled in value in the past month from $0.19 to $0.38.

Another up-and-coming game is CryptoMines, which is a SciFi play-to-earn NFT game where players compete to collect Workers and Spaceships to travel through the universe searching for a cryptocurrency called $ETERNAL. It has seen 229,000 users on its platform over the past 30 days.

In this nascent and rapidly growing gaming metaverse, CoinFantasy is securing a position as a leader in the fantasy gaming sector. CoinFantasy has its skin in the game with its upcoming gamified fantasy crypto markets.

CoinFantasys Play-To-Earn model allows anyone to participate. To join in users only need to take three steps:

There are over 100 unique NFT player card attributes with different rarities. These NFTs will allow users to participate in crypto fantasy club events and also entitled to collectibles & in-game merchandisers

GameFi, with its Play-To-Earn model and the metaverse, will continue to rise and what it can mean for the world. Can it mean a new world economy? Can it mean an opportunity for everyday people to improve their situation in life?

The next two to three years of this economy will be telling and exciting, to say the least.

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Play-to-Earn, Metaverse and the New Generation of Fantasy Gaming Solutions - NewsBTC

As countries made ambitious pledges to decarbonise their economies at Novembers Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, Iraq stayed silent.

The country faces a major problem. Oil is the lifeblood of its economy, not only for revenue but also as fuel for power stations to address a chronic shortage of electricity.

Oil exports make up the bulk of Iraqs national budget, more than 90 per cent of annual revenue, most of which is spent on public sector wages. This leaves little to spend on green energy.

Iraq is now vulnerable to being left behind: 35 countries pledged to transition entirely to electric vehicles at Cop26, revisiting the 2015 Paris Agreement that Iraq ratified in January.

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Its most recent national environment strategy calls for a reduction of emissions of only 2 per cent by 2030.

Meanwhile, its electricity problems call for urgent solutions. Frequent power cuts have prompted a national protest movement, which was met with force leaving hundreds dead.

Iraq's population is also expected to double to 80 million by 2050, the year set as a target by dozens of countries to drastically cut gas emissions, part of the Paris agreement.

This rapidly growing population depends on oil revenue for everything from food imports to public sector wages.

For former energy minister Luay Al Khateeb, Iraq must its priorities right, even if that means setting aside Cop26 targets of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050.

We shouldnt neglect current and future challenges, such as the severe shortage of electricity and shrinking water supply, just to achieve a target that doesnt fit our priorities. So, if we are talking about existential threats facing humanity, we should also talk about the existential threats facing Iraq based on its national security, Mr Al Khateeb, a distinguished fellow at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in New York, told The National.

Successive governments have struggled to resolve the power crisis, in part because the Iraqi government has failed to set aside enough investment to upgrade the national grid or incentivise private investment in the sector.

Repeated oil price crashes since 2014 have seriously depleted Iraqs investment capital for renewable projects.

Exactly how Iraq can achieve zero emissions remains an open question.

Impressive as they sound on paper, the countrys green projects, including solar energy programmes, planting millions of palm trees and introducing more efficient technology to generate power, are far from enough.

Transitioning to solar energy has been a slow process, in part because foreign companies have been nervous about large energy projects in Iraq.

Many solar projects have not yet left the planning stage. Others are still nascent.

But a project with Masdar which has headquarters in the UAE to install about 1 gigawatt of solar power would be an important step forward and could inspire confidence to launch similar schemes.

Currently, about 76 per cent of Iraqs electricity supply comes from oil burning, while gas provides the bulk of the remainder. Solar and wind account for about one per cent.

Natural gas is also plentiful, a byproduct of oil extraction, but capturing and processing it is expensive, even if it makes sense economically in the long term.

Instead of capturing the gas, many oil companies choose to burn it off, a highly polluting and wasteful practice called flaring.

Mr Al Khateeb says that the continuing waste of a precious resource like natural gas could light up to four million homes.

I know that the current government is committed to reducing to zero flaring by 2025. But we've seen similar targets being missed. In 2010, the then government pledged to cut down flaring to zero by 2015. We missed that. Today, they have added five more years to hopefully meet the target by 2030, he said.

Despite Iraqs attachment to the allure of oil revenue and burning hydrocarbons for electricity, the reasons for supporting the global green transition are becoming more stark.

The UN Environment Programme classifies Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to decreased water, food availability and extreme temperatures.

The warmer Iraq gets, the more frequent droughts become, raising soil salinity to levels that render fields useless for farming.

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The country is expected to record a 2C increase in temperature and a 9 per cent decline in rainfall by 2050, says the Climate Change Knowledge Portal, a centre for climate-related information, data and tools for the World Bank.

Such a rise would smash Baghdad's heat record of 51.8C, reached on July 29.

These levels of heat would be unbearable for most people and could prove the final straw for Iraqis already exhausted from poor electricity supplies.

The Paris Agreements ultimate goal is to keep increases in global warming to well below 2C, aiming for 1.5C, and to nudge the nearly 200 signatories, including Iraq, to keep pace with the necessary global transformation to sustainable development.

Raheem Noor Dawood and his son at home in the Chabayech Marshes in southern Iraq. Haider Husseini for The National

Ali Al Lami has served as an environment and climate change adviser to different Iraqi governments and was among the official Iraqi delegation at Cop26.

He recalls how Iraq used to be named in Arabic Ard Asswad (the land of blackness) due to its fertile farmlands with the annual overflow of the Tigris and the Euphrates depositing thick layers of silt and clay on Iraq's vast floodplains.

The seasonal rain has failed in recent years compared to the past decades. Im not exaggerating when I say that we have three seasons of summer today, as winter, spring and autumn have become very short. I would say drought has become the biggest threat to Iraq and its food security today, Mr Al Lami told The National.

To address the problem, Iraqi economist Mazin El Shaiker, who has managed large corporations in Iraq including Motorola and Asia Cell, suggests that the country needs to rein in the overbearing role of the state in the energy sector, with its record of bureaucracy and corruption.

Instead, the government should be more proactive in inviting local and foreign investors to develop the transition to a green economy, he said.

The concept of having an investor is almost not there, you know, this build, operate and transfer system is hardly being used in Iraq. The government wants to fund everything and this is wrong, he told The National.

I've always advised the governments in Iraq not to invest a single dollar in the power infrastructure and solar stations to dispense with oil. They're still trying to fund these projects and I keep telling them 'no', he said, insisting that private investors should take the strain.

For Iraq, that transition to private investment in green energy cant come soon enough.

Updated: December 3rd 2021, 3:28 AM

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Can Iraq balance the needs of people with a green agenda? - The National

The Coast Team Innovators (CTI) is a technology hub located in Watamu at the Coast Region in Kenya. CTI is an innovation hub for youths aiming at solving problems and making life a better place for all Kenyans. Mr Egan Baya founded the group back in 2016 to incubate young innovative minds and create an enabling environment for them to reach their full potential. Currently, there are 27 young innovators at the CTI; the youngest in the team is eight years old. Furthermore, CTI has had an enormous impact in the coast region of Kenya, especially in motivating the youths through empowerment programs, training and local exhibitions through STEM in schools fairs and community-based programmes. In addition, CTI has since participated in several exhibitions/hackathons, winning a host of awards.

To learn more about the CTI and their offerings, Space in Africa had a chat with CTIs Head of Communications, Curtis Wanzala, to discuss the Uhuru K1 satellite project and other projects within the organisation.

Satellite communications play a vital role in the global telecommunications system. Approximately 2,000 artificial satellites orbit the Earth which relays analogue and digital signals carrying voice, video data to and from one or many locations worldwide. In addition, many African nations have been embracing space technology development leading to improved collaboration within Africans to ensure that we develop space systems in-house, void of any foreign party involvement. Also, Kenya Space Agency (KSA) is one of the space agencies in Africa focusing on developing technologies and applications for space exploration to support sustainable economic, social and environmental development. Consequently, KSA hopes to achieve its mandates by promoting research and innovations in space science and technology to enhance the over development of the country.

The Uhuru K1 satellite project is led by members of the CTI, including the Founder of CTI, Mr Egan Baya; CTIs Head of Communications, Curtis Wanzala; Lemmy Kafulo and Gershone Kafulo. The Uhuru k1 was coined from Its predecessor, the Uhuru satellite launched from San Marco Malindi, Kenya, in 1970 to conduct space astronomical studies. However, the Uhuru K1 is a uniquely inspired artificial satellite that would revolutionise the global communication sector and provide multiple functions. A multi-function satellite is an innovation that has never been implemented in our continent, Africa.

The Uhuru k1 satellite project began in 2018 after our participation at the Young Scientist of Kenya (YSK) at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). At the event, the Kenyan president and the patron of YSK, HE Uhuru Kenyatta, challenged all Kenyan youths to develop solutions to improve Kenyas communication capability. We thus named the satellite [Uhuru K1] in honour of our honourable president. However, before embarking on this project, our team has developed several other solutions to better the lives of our countrymen. Therefore, we felt that its part of our role to embrace space science and develop a satellite system to solve Kenyan problems, especially in the communication and IT sectors.

However, like several other African states, internet connectivity in Kenya is abysmal, especially in remote regions. Therefore, we took it as our responsibility as Kenyan youths to collaborate and provide solutions to the communication challenges across Kenya.

The satellite project is a prototype at the Beta development stage, and it includes a cube nanosatellite, microsatellite and ground control stations. Furthermore, the prototype satellite has proven to be reliable, and we are now focused on developing a telecommunication satellite that will be launched to space soon. We hope that well be able to leverage the momentum from the project to stand out as both an upstream and downstream service company and offer better, reliable and more affordable service in Kenya.

The Uhuru k1 is a multi-band telecommunication satellite, a unique multi-service satellite specifically designed to ensure faster and better network accessibility in all areas within its coverage. Presently, it consists of a prototype of a cube satellite (nanosatellite 9.2kg), a microsatellite (54kg) and a ground station. Furthermore, it is specifically intended to promote Industrialisation.In addition, the Uhuru k1 uses the C band for fixed and mobile services. Also, it has high powered transponders, mainly operating under the VHF and UHF frequency bands. This allows for faster signal transmission, as its geographical coverage is much broader, thus bypassing signal losses caused by terrain obstructions and line-of-sight (LOS) propagation signal interference due to the radio horizon limit.

Also, the Uhuru k1 uses the Ku band for broadcasting services. The main reason is to help create awareness in remote regions and for educational purposes through various legitimate open-access resources. This will help our fight against the lack of education in underdeveloped regions as one may only need a simple radio or television to access these resources. Furthermore, the satellite can be accessed by a remote platform. It can also provide information via radio FM, VHF and LW receivers primarily to caution road users about blackspot areas prone to accidents.

In addition, the solar panels on the satellite can be adjusted via remote systems. This allows for adjustable angular position to ensure optimum powering of the satellite at all times. Also, the ground station is equipped with a multi-band array of antennas capable of receiving and relaying/transmitting radio signals. A full band modulator also integrates all received radio signals, both VHF and UHF bands, respectively. Furthermore, the Uhuru K1 also has ham radio receivers and cellular mobile network amplifiers that receive the frequencies on the radio spectrum, mainly to modulate and re-transmit or broadcast mutually throughout the airwaves.

Moreover, the Uhuru k1 satellite is currently a prototype weighing 54kg, and there are limitations to its capabilities as its design presently fares incomplete in regards to its full potential. The main factor is limited funds for better resource allocation. However, with significant contributions from the local community and personal contributions, the Uhuru k1, though in its BETA state, can broadcast up to a 40-kilometre square radius and from only 15 meters off-ground, held stationary between two palm trees, by robust metal cables. This signifies that it harbours even more tremendous promise to national and international implementation. Also, with the necessary support, the Uhuru k1s capabilities would be limitless. To date, we have spent around KSH 1.2 million (USD 12,000) on the prototype and are still working assiduously to improve its capabilities.

ITUs global telecommunication/ICT Indicators database shows substantial growth in fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions in developed and developing countries. Also, dating back to 2010, fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions reached 8% penetration, up from 6.9% penetration a year earlier. However, despite these promising trends, penetration levels in developing countries remain low 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries.

Consequently, the Uhuru K1 offers a cocktail remedy to global communication. Some of these solutions include:

Coast Team Innovators is a small growing hub of resourceful professionals in diverse professions and expertise. This has made it ideal for members to collaborate and develop solutions to realise a common goal. We have been operating on bootstrap funding as members keep on investing more as the need arises. We are also looking forward to a government grant from Kenya Space Agency (KSA) and the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) to reach our potential.

Yes, we are in contact with the Kenyan government by liaising with the Ministry of Defence through the Research and Development Branch. Also, we are currently in the process of engaging the KSA for partnership into the space project. In addition, we are in contact with other ministries within the Kenyan government on different projects besides the Uhuru k1 satellite project.

Also, our goal is to collaborate with the government to ensure that we transform Kenya into a knowledge-based economy with innovators capable of taking charge of any and all space systems to propel Kenyas social, economic and environmental development.

We plan to do this in a couple of ways:

The problem is relatively easy to diagnose most African countries are still new to the space community. However, several countries have recorded incredible feats in their space journey, including Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, etc. Therefore, fostering more collaborations between African countries should be a top priority for the industry stakeholders to ensure that we bring the remaining countries without a robust space programme onboard. Also, the expertise should be deconcentrated so that each country would contribute based on technical capacity and exposure. In addition, I firmly believe that Africa can begin to record a continental growth in space programs and explorations through such programmes.

Through our team, we are already laying the foundation for this across the continent. Also, we are witnessing a surge in students taking STEM courses, which is a prerequisite for space science and engineering courses. However, we need to invest more in capacity development and exchange programs in every space-related programme to establish a sustainable talent pipeline to meet future skills needs in Africa. It might take a while to achieve, but it is the best way to move forward as a continent.

I am also not surprised that many prominent inventors and scientists from the 20th-21st century are Africans, including our own Elon Musk, a South African native scientist and entrepreneur. And I am confident that we have more than enough talents on the continent to produce more talents that would replicate and surpass Musks achievements.

Yes, we have been involved in a host of other innovations, including:

2. Hybrid S.U.V Truck is an African made truck specifically designed for fuel consumption on Africa roads and to generate less pollution. The vehicle is custom made to fit our daily needs in transportation. It is in the fabrication phase stage.

3. Improvised Explosive Detective Vehicle (IEDV) a vehicle designed to fight terrorism by offering detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as deep as 2metres below ground and 3metres radius detection. In addition, the vehicle also has tight vision driving systems.

4. Hovercraft designed for deep and shallow water transport

5. Smart Home System an integrated system that uses renewable energy systems in security systems and controls. The house is programmed to each clients requirements.

6. Smart farm an automated modern farm capable of yielding much produce with minimal human involvement.

As a team, we would like to live in a future where access to information is much faster compared to what we have today. As a result, we would like to develop solutions targeting the realisation of remotely operated contraptions, i.e. networked traffic systems, to solve heavy traffic jams in populated cities globally. Furthermore, we are interested in solutions to enhance the implementation of perfect navigational and global guidance systems through a centralised hive satellite network connective. Also, we would like to design a satellite system capable of conducting astronomical studies that would enable deep space ventures in search of potentially habitable planets. We would also like to collaborate with other African nations that share our passion and aspirations of developing an improved method to tackle thruster handling challenges and propulsion system control in space.

Mustapha has a strong relationship with written words and enjoys elaborating on minor details with a plethora of information.

Click here to get real time data and information on every Segments and players in the African space and satellite industry.

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Meet the Team of Young Innovators Pioneering Novel Solutions in Kenya - Space in Africa