General
iLABS@MAK organizes first National Remote Engineering Consortium Consultation seminar
The iLABS@MAK Project, Faculty of Technology, Makerere University organized the first Consultation seminar on the formation of “The National Remote Engineering Consortium” held at the Imperial Royale Hotel on Friday 27th November 2009.
The iLABS@MAK Project, Faculty of Technology, Makerere University organized the first Consultation seminar on the formation of “The National Remote Engineering Consortium” held at the Imperial Royale Hotel on Friday 27th November 2009.
The co-hosts of the day Paul Isaac Musasizi, Project Administrator, iLABS@MAK project and Proscovia Nakazinga, Developer iLABS@MAK project thanked guests for making time despite the public holiday and announced the theme of the day “Enriching Science Education through Remote Engineering”.
The Principal Investigator iLABS@MAK Project Prof. Sandy S. Tickodri-Togboa in his keynote address outlined the relevance of Remote Engineering in Science Education citing some applications already implemented at Makerere University such as The iLABS project at the Faculty of Technology executed in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , Obafemi Awolowo University(OAU) Nigeria and the University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) Tanzania with support from National Instruments and The MIT Open Course Ware project, aimed at freely sharing course material and references from MIT with the rest of the world.
Other Remote Engineering applications identified include Video Conferencing, High-Tech digital libraries and collaborative development of software solutions, which with the advancement in Technology and infrastructural support such as the establishment of faster internet connections through the submarine fiber connections are the way to go.
He then cited a case study of The Internet2 , a non-profit consortium project conceived as an application-driven project, designed to be a complimentary network to support advanced scientific applications. This project, founded when representatives from 34 American Universities met in 1996 currently receives financial support from more than 180 Universities, over 80 companies and the US government.
In concluding his address, Prof. Togboa observed that we have to work together, like never before to make Education address the diversity of needs, expectations and interests in their cultural contexts noting that Remote Engineering can improve the quality of teaching, learning and sharing knowledge and information.
Prof. Nawangwe , Dean, Faculty of Technology, thanked Prof. Togboa for his address and invited Prof. Venansius Barymureeba, Acting Vice Chancellor, Makerere University to make his remarks. Prof. Baryamureeba thanked the Minister of Higher Education, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT, representatives from the private sector, Heads of Secondary Schools and various stakeholders for sparing time to attend this first consultation meeting. Voicing his support for the formation of a National Remote Engineering Consortium, he congratulated the Faculty of Technology for astutely being a model as far as furthering research critical to improving the teaching and learning methods in Makerere University is concerned, thanking Prof. Togboa’s for his valuable contribution in this regard. He then invited the Minister of Higher Education to officially open the seminar.
Hon. Mwesigwa Rukutana the Minister of State for Higher Education extended a warm welcome to his fellow members of the cabinet, representatives Educational Institutions and all delegates present including Andrew Watchorn and Lesley Yu from National Instruments, noting that their presence reiterated their commitment to improving the teaching and learning experience in Uganda.
He re-affirmed The Government of Uganda’s commitment to making education for all a reality and preparing all citizens to meet the challenges of the 21st century. “This is why deliberate macro development policies and reforms like Universal Primary Education (1997) and Universal free Secondary Education (2007) were introduced as a key ingredient of the Educational Strategic Plan.”
He then challenged all stakeholders to utilize Remote Engineering in combating other social problems like the burden of poverty and HIV/AIDS “These are challenges we are facing across the nation, whose prevalence would be less with improved information dissemination.”
The Minister then noted that despite the Nation’s comparable or even better commitment to education, research and innovation in the region, we were not generating as many innovations, new business ideas and new jobs as some other African countries. He however hoped that the seminar would offer an opportunity to take a huge stride in the positive direction and declared the seminar open.
Andrew Watchorn, Senior Academic Field Engineer National Instruments who had prior to the seminar spent four days in the Faculty of Technology training students from several Universties noted that Uganda had some of the most intelligent young minds in the world. Andrew noted that applications such as those used during his four-day training were being utilized as components in world ground-breaking innovations such as the LEGO MINDSTORM NXT software and the CERN Large Hadron collider .
“The Education of Engineers cannot stop at what they learn in class or theory”. Andrew noted that instructors must go ahead and train engineers to apply their theory and continuously innovate.
Associate Prof. Lugojjo, Head, Department of Electrical Engineering at the Faculty of Technology in his address called upon the Government, Private and Public sectors to come on board so as to leverage, implement and sustain innovations in our Institutions of Higher Learning. He encouraged all stakeholders to facilitate and demystify the teaching of Science and Technology in schools “We should democratize Science and Technology so as to encourage more students to take on science subjects and engineering”. He observed that he had so many brilliant project write-ups and theses written by his former students that were unfortunately gathering dust on shelves, hence reiterating the need to translate these materials to practical innovations.
In his remarks, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe , Dean, Faculty of Technology appreciated the timeliness of the consultation meeting, considering that the submarine cable was now operational and Makerere’s own brilliant students were rubbing shoulders and collaborating with their peers from MIT to come up with innovations like the vision200 car.
“Sharing resources is a commendable thing” said Prof. Nawangwe as he noted that with the use of projects like iLABS@MAK, students were able to share engineering applications with peers in the faculty and other universities using the LabVIEW software. He however noted that the missing link was the lack of close cooperation between several stakeholders i.e. the Ministries, Universities, public and private sectors. He then requested the National Instruments representative to publish innovations from Makerere University on their company website.
Prof. Michael Lejeune Deputy Executive Director, Uganda National Council for Higher Education kicked off his address with noting that the job of the Council was to ensure that the quality of education in Uganda is held high. The council had also observed a growing trend in the number of e-degrees and has had to put into place measures to evaluate their validity and merit.
With regard to Remote Engineering, Prof. Lejeune commended Makerere University for embracing innovation and keeping up with the technological trends in the industry. Considering that the East African Community integration process was becoming more of a reality daily, the future might see the formation of policies stating minimum requirements for graduation that will be effected across the region. In concluding his remarks, Prof. Lejuene noted that “Uganda needs us all to develop this country. Lets all do it with enthusiasm”
The Guest of Honor and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Dr. Jimmy Saamanya thanked Makerere for organizing the consultative seminar aimed at forming a National Remote Engineering Consortium. As a background to his address he noted that previously as a result of higher bandwidth costs via satellite, the region may have lagged behind and missed out on advancements that have been made by other countries like India and the United States. However, with the advent of faster and higher capacity internet connections through the submarine cables, the Minister reckoned that we should be in a better position to compete favorably and produce more innovations.
With regard to legislation, the Ministry has pushed for the passing of three bills namely The Electronic Signature bill, The Electronic Transactions bill and the Computer Misuse Bill , all designed to regulate online activity in Uganda. With regard to partnering with Institutions of Higher Learning, he noted that that the Ministry of ICT was working with the College of Health Sciences on e-medicine collaborations linking Makerere to American Universities.
Presentations of the day saw Andrew Watchorn exhibit how National Instruments partnered with American Universities to produce spin-off companies like TORC (Virginia Tech) and EVIROFIT(Colorado State University) . In a practical demonstration of the power and ease of use of National Instruments products, Andrew built an “Illustration on Vibration Systems” using the LabVIEW software, a laptop and the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS) module in under eight minutes.
Andrew then cited an example of how students, with the aid of their Professor led to the formation of Mashavu (Swahili for “Chubby cheeked”) . The project enables medical professionals around the world to connect with patients in the developing world using modern technology and communications infrastructure. Prof. Khanjan Mehta , Senior Research Associate, Electronic and Computer services, Penn State University and one of the students’ team faculty advisors noted that the project is a laptop-based system designed to use the existing mobile phone infrastructure.
Students on the iLABS@MAK project team led by Orishaba Doreen a Fourth year Electrical Engineering student went ahead to demonstrate the merits of the LabVIEW software. Tom Kigezi, Developer and Second year Electrical Engineering student then walked delegates through the structures and activities of the iLABS team before Nicholas Mpanga, Developer and Third year Telecommunications Engineering student made an online demonstration of how an iLAB is conducted.
In his closing remarks Prof. Lugujo expressed his disappointment as some of his brilliant students after graduation go on to seek better paying jobs at the expense of turning their project ideas into cutting-edge innovations. He however had hope that this would all change as “LabVIEW will provide a confluence of aspirations to bridge generations” and foster innovation. He urged all stakeholders present to continue collaborating so as to make the National Remote Engineering Consortium a reality. On behalf of the Acting Vice Chancellor and his Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance & Administration and the Dean, Faculty of Technology, he thanked everyone present for coming and encouraged them to continue with the good work, urging all students to keep up with the enthusiasm as they were the heirs of Science and Technology.
Click on links below to view respective powerpoint presentation
Minister of State for Higher Education's Full Speech
Dean, Faculty of Technology's Full Speech
Principal Investigator iLABS@MAK-presentation of the Position Paper
Presentation by Andrew Watchorn-National Instruments Senior Academic Field Engineer
Presentation by students on their ILABS experience
Under the theme, “Leveraging AI for Sustainable Transformation: Leading in Uganda’s Transformation in the Age of Disruptive AI,” the 16th Annual CEO Forum 2025 brought together government leaders, captains of industry, academia, and development partners to discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can drive Uganda’s transformation agenda.
Representing the Vice Chancellor, Mr Yusuf Kiranda, University Secretary at Makerere University, reaffirmed the University’s pivotal role as a hub for AI research, innovation, and training anchored in strong partnerships across government, academia, and industry.
“Makerere University is responsible for research, innovation and training to ensure transferable knowledge that can be utilised by both the private and public sector,” Mr. Kiranda noted.
He emphasised that Uganda’s sustainable AI transformation will depend on effective policy, governance, and collaboration across sectors.
According to Mr. Kiranda, three key issues must be addressed for AI to realise its potential:
- Balancing control and facilitation: Policymakers must not only regulate AI but also actively enable its use to drive innovation and competitiveness.
- Sovereignty of AI: Uganda must safeguard its data and resources, especially in sectors like agriculture, where external mapping of local assets threatens national control and export competitiveness.
- Regional harmonisation: To ensure fair competition, AI policies must be aligned across East Africa so Ugandan, Kenyan, and Tanzanian businesses operate under a level playing field.
“In the utilisation of AI, if a policy is making Uganda less competitive, we must revise it now to allow private sector players to thrive in this disruptive age,” he added.
Mr. Kiranda further reiterated Makerere’s commitment to producing quality, AI-ready graduates and enhancing teaching and learning methods to integrate technology. He also acknowledged the Government’s continued investment in research at Makerere, which has seen a growing number of researchers focus on AI and technological innovations.
“I can attest to Makerere’s existing partnerships with government entities and development partners. These collaborations are making the market ready to deliver solutions through effective academia–industry partnerships,” he said.
Building Africa’s Digital Destiny
The forum opened with a powerful keynote from Dr. Robin Kibuka, Board Director at the CEO Summit Uganda, who spoke on “Building Africa’s Digital Destiny: Kampala Rising, Africa Inventing.”
Dr. Kibuka urged Africans to take ownership of their digital future, stressing that the continent must define how AI transforms its societies.
“Artificial Intelligence can empower Africa or divide it. The choice is ours,” he said.
He highlighted success stories from across Africa, including AI-powered drones delivering medical supplies and smart credit systems supporting small businesses — proof that the continent is already innovating its own digital solutions.
Leveraging AI for Sustainable Transformation
In her keynote address on “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Transformation,” Dr. Preeti Aghalayam, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras – Zanzibar Campus, described AI as “the defining disruptor of the 21st century.”
She emphasised that both Africa and India share a unique opportunity to collaborate in education, innovation, and human capital development to shape a more inclusive digital future.
“Artificial Intelligence must help us do better and be better,” she said, highlighting the need for responsible innovation that uplifts communities and promotes sustainability.
Digital Transformation in the Health Sector
Mr. Rashid Khalani, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan University Hospital, Uganda, presented on “Digital Transformation in the Health Sector,” sharing practical examples of how AI is redefining healthcare delivery.
From AI-powered radiology that detects anomalies faster, to predictive models for early sepsis detection and digital tools supporting mental health care, Mr. Khalani demonstrated how AI is improving patient outcomes and empowering medical professionals.
“AI is not replacing people. It is empowering them to deliver better care, faster,” he emphasised.
He noted that partnerships between hospitals, universities, and technology institutions are crucial in developing localised AI solutions that respond to real health needs.
Makerere at the Heart of Uganda’s AI Transformation
The discussions throughout the 16th Annual CEO Forum 2025 reaffirmed the critical importance of collaboration among academia, industry, and government in shaping Uganda’s AI-driven future.
Makerere University continues to play a leading role in this space, providing the research, innovation, and talent that power the country’s transition into a digital economy.
Through strategic partnerships, forward-looking policy engagement, and continuous innovation in research and training, Makerere stands at the forefront of preparing Uganda and the region for a smart, inclusive, and sustainable future powered by AI.
Caroline Kainomugisha is the Communications Officer, Advancement Office, Makerere University.
General
Scholars Discuss Techno-Colonialism and Decolonizing AI for African Identity at Makerere University
Betty Kyakuwa & Eve Nakyanzi
Scholars from across Africa and beyond convened at Makerere University for a workshop on “Techno-Colonialism: Decolonizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for African Identity.” The event formed part of the ongoing African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Conference hosted at Makerere University, under the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity.
In her opening remarks, Prof. Sarah Ssali, Director of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity, welcomed participants to what she described as a “thought-provoking engagement for early career researchers.” She noted that the Centre, hosted at Makerere University, now brings together over 10 universities across Africa and partner institutions in the Global North to examine evolving African identities in the face of global transformations.
“We don’t imagine a single African identity defined by class, tribe, or religion,” Prof. Ssali said. “We consider African identities as lived, negotiated, and continually reshaped by experiences such as colonialism, globalization, and technological change.”
The workshop was moderated by Dr. Kemi Kehinde, an ARUA–Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow from Anchor University, Nigeria, who emphasized the need to critically examine the intersections between artificial intelligence, indigenous knowledge, and identity formation.
Dr. Kemi invited participants to reflect on a presentation by Dr. Sameen Musa on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and AI in the Context of Decoloniality and Sustainable Futures. She highlighted the importance of ensuring that AI systems recognize and integrate oral African traditions such as storytelling, proverbs, and performance arts—areas where current technologies often fall short.
“As young African scholars, we have a responsibility to shape the training models of AI so that future systems engage authentically with African oral traditions and worldviews,” Dr. Kemi noted.
The panel featured Prof. Aghogho Akpome from the University of Zululand, Dr. Isaac Tibasiima and Marvin Galiwango, a machine learning engineer at Makerere, and Dr. Nikolai Golovko from the Centre for African Studies at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow and Dr. Chongomweru Halimu, a lecturer at the Department of Information Technology, Makerere University.
Speaking from South Africa, Prof. Aghogho Akpome delivered a strong critique of what he termed “the intellectual dependency fostered by generative AI tools.” He cautioned that over reliance on artificial intelligence for writing and research risks eroding cognitive skills and perpetuating new forms of colonial dependence.
“The use of generative AI without critical engagement amounts to intellectual theft,” he said. “It replaces creative thought with algorithmic mimicry, and that is the essence of techno-colonialism.”
Dr. Isaac Tibasiima, from Makerere University’s Department of Literature, offered a balanced view, arguing that while AI poses risks of cultural misrepresentation, it also presents opportunities for Africans to reclaim their agency by shaping the data that powers these systems.
“We need to feed our own knowledge into AI systems—honest, transparent, contextually grounded African knowledge,” Dr. Tibasiima said. “That’s the path to inclusion and authentic representation.”
From Moscow, Dr. Nikolai Golovko provided a global policy perspective, noting that while 11 African countries have adopted national AI strategies, implementation remains limited by resource and data inequalities. He warned that foreign-designed algorithms often ignore local contexts, reinforcing what he called “algorithmic colonialism.”
“African governments and universities must prioritize indigenous participation in AI design,” Dr. Golovko urged. “Otherwise, we risk reproducing colonial hierarchies in digital form.”
Dr. Halimu Chongomweru discussed the theme “Techno-Colonialism and Decolonizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for African Ideas.” He argued that today’s global digital ecosystem mirrors historical patterns of colonial exploitation—only now, instead of natural resources, Africa’s data is being extracted to fuel AI economies controlled by others.
He described this as a form of modern colonialism, not through armies or flags, but through algorithms, cloud servers, and digital platforms that define African problems and solutions without African participation. These systems enrich others while disempowering African communities.
Dr. Chongomweru emphasized that AI without culture is not intelligence but extraction. When AI models are trained on Western norms, they impose Western values globally, leading Africans to adopt technology without shifting the moral and cultural lenses behind it.
He urged a shift in focus from access to ownership, arguing that access without control only deepens dependency — another form of digital colonialism. True equalization, he said, means determining who owns, benefits from, and governs African data and AI systems.
To decolonize AI, Dr. Chongomweru proposed several actions:
- Build African-owned data repositories hosted on African soil and governed by African laws.
- Invest in AI research in African languages, moving from translation (copying) to representation (originating ideas).
- Develop home-grown technological infrastructure, ensuring computation and innovation occur within the continent.
He concluded that Africa’s AI agenda must be rooted in cultural, linguistic, historical, and sovereign identity, drawing from African philosophical traditions to create ethical and inclusive AI systems.
Marvin Galiwango cautioned that Africa’s growing engagement with AI still relies heavily on foreign tools, funding, and servers, creating digital dependency rather than empowerment. He argued that so-called “inclusion” often leaves Africans creating within systems they don’t control. Drawing parallels with genomics, he noted that Africa provides data but lacks ownership of infrastructure and outcomes. He concluded that true technological independence requires Africans to build and govern their own digital systems.
The session closed with a lively discussion on the ethics of AI use in research, the need for inclusive data models, and the role of African universities in decolonizing digital technologies. Participants agreed that decolonizing AI is not merely a technological issue but a cultural, ethical, and identity-driven imperative for Africa’s future.
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