Google opened a development office in Nairobi in September 2007 which the author labels as "Nairobi’s highest-profile validation".
The article includes a quote from Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive who said by e-mail: ““Africa is a huge long-term market for us...We have to start by helping people get online, and the creativity of the people will take care of the rest.”
This quote touches on what becomes heavily popularized discourse in the early days of the iHub (~2010-2013) that because of the numerous limitations present in the everyday lived experiences of Kenya (frequent blackouts, expensive and slow Internet, low-end devices, etc, etc.) if technology developed in the "global south" can work in the global south, then it can work anywhere else. Erik Hersman, co-founder of Ushahidi, iHub and BRCK articulates this explicitly: "if it works in Africa, it will work anywhere." This is a sticky narrative that makes a case for why companies should invest in establishing a base on the continent to test and develop their technologies (because if they can first get it to work in Africa, then they can get it to work anywhere else).
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"The prospect of marrying low-end mobile phones with the Internet is earning Nairobi notice from outsiders, who wonder whether the city might emerge as a test-bed for tomorrow’s technologies."
This article from 2008 mentions one of the early tech community groups, Skunkworks. The Skunkworks community was a precursor to many who ended up getting involved in setting up the iHub including Josiah Mugambi who is quoted here.
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"The distinctive digital experience in Nairobi inspires confidence in its youthful community of programmers, bloggers and Web enthusiasts. Over the past year, about 600 people in Nairobi--most under 25--have coalesced into a group called Skunk Works, sharing ideas and encouraging new businesses. In June, it held an all-day workshop that included sessions on using the Android phone operating system from Google, developing applications for digital maps and creating content for mobile phones.
“Possibilities are opening up for us,” says Josiah Mugambi, one of the group’s organizers.
The prospect of marrying low-end mobile phones with the Internet is earning Nairobi notice from outsiders, who wonder whether the city might emerge as a test-bed for tomorrow’s technologies."
This New York Times article quoted a 22-year-old engineering student and coder in Nairobi, Wilfred Mworia, as saying: “Even if I don’t have an iPhone, I can still have a world market for my work.” Mworia had written an application program for the iPhone using a phone simulator because he doesn't have an iPhone. This quote and his actions reflect an interest in taking advantage and connecting with economic opportunities beyond the immediate nation-state boundaries, an opportunity afforded by digital technologies. This kind of sentiment seems to align with the "hussler" mindset of many entrepreneurial Kenyans who are on constant look-out for new economic opportunities.