History
Program Inception
MIT's Africa Internet Technology Initiative (AITI) was first envisioned by Paul Njoroge while attending the 1998 MIT Leadershape summer program after his sophomore year at MIT. Paul teamed up with fellow classmates Martin Mbaya and Solomon Assefa (also graduates of MIT Leadershape) to plan and launch the inaugural MIT AITI session (initial proposal). The founders of AITI realized that information and communication technologies can aid development. However, many African students are not exposed to a curriculum that focused on technologies appropriate to their environment. The founders had a vision that saw MIT students/instructors traveling to Africa to teach technology and promote development in African schools. Both parties would be benefit from the program. The MIT student/instructors would be enriched by a unique and challenging international experience, and the African students would be exposed to appropriate technologies that would help them to solve local problems and take advantage of local opportunities.
The founders developed the idea with the help of Professor Paul Gray (MIT EECS), President Emeritus of MIT. AITI was largely modeled on the successful MIT-CETI program in China and customized for Africa. In the summer of 2000, the program was piloted at Strathmore College in Kenya. Four MIT student/instructors (Paul Njoroge, Martin Mbaya, Andrew Nevins and Eric Traub) were part of the inaugural team. Each played an important role in taking the program from concept to reality. In 2000, tele-centers (Internet Cafes) were the dominant accessible form of ICT technology for most Africans. Thus, the team's curriculum centered on Java programming, HTML and the basics of UNIX. In addition, to promote entrepreneurship, leading executives from the computer industry in Kenya delivered guest lectures. Furthermore, students were required to work on a group project applying their newly acquired skills.
Since that first summer program in 2000, under the auspices of AITI, nearly 100 MIT student/teachers have instructed over 1200 African students (and instructors) in ICT technologies. The MIT AITI diploma is recognized by many employers as a mark of excellence. The organization has expanded its programs to three additional countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia. It has also expanded into high schools with programs at Alliance High School, Kenya (championed by Kirimania Murithi) and Achimota School (Ghana). AITI's curriculum is constantly being updated to reflect the changing technological landscape of Africa.
Several generations of MIT students, alumni, professors
and donors have played a critical role in the growth and
evolution of MIT AITI over the years. In 2008, AITI changed
its name to the Africa Information Technology
Initiative (keeping the acronym AITI
) to reflect AITI's
embrace of non-Internet ICTs, mainly mobile
technologies.
The remainder of this page details our programs, beginning with our pilot program in 2000.
Summer 2009: Strathmore University, Kenya
AITI, with support from Google, delivered an intensive six-week course from June 8 - July 20, 2009 at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. Select students from Strathmore University, University of Nairobi, and Jomo Kenyatta University attended the program to learn how to develop mobile applications. Instructors from these universities participated as liaisons to observe the course and assist students. The course employed AITI's Mobile Application Development Curriculum.
In addition to the mobile application programming technical curriculum, the course built entrepreneurial skills by incorporating guest lecturers with expertise in the Kenyan technology market, mobile challenges, and a group mobile application competition. You can see the final submission for the competition here. A company, MobiTechno, was founded by a project group.
MIT Instructors
| Michael Gordon |
| Michelle Marcus |
| Zachary Stauber |
| Cory Smith |
| Julian Yeun |
Guest Lecturers
- Dr. Kevit Desai (IEEE rep. for Kenya, Director of the Kenya ICT Board, CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, and Director of Engineering for Centurion Systems)
- Njeri Rionge (Founder and Executive Director of Ignite Consulting. She was also instrumental in mobile operator Orange's re-branding)
- Richard Bell (Venture Capitalist)
- Will Mworia (AITI 05 graduate, previously Microsoft, currently working on a startup)
Mobile Application Competition Judges
- Denis Gikunda, Localization Project Manager, Google Kenya)
- Jeremiah Kamau (Geographic Specialist, Google Kenya)
- Jack Maina (Head of Solution Development, Safaricom)
- Will Mworia (Mobile Application Development Expert (previously Microsoft and AITI 2005 Graduate))
- Isis Nyong'o (Business Development Manager, Google Kenya)
- Jackie Rajuai (Geographic Consultant, Google Kenya)
- Dr. Joseph Sevilla (Faculty of Information Technology, Strathmore University)
- Andrew Wachira (Technical Support Associate, Google Kenya)
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
2008
2008 was a transitional year for AITI as a new Executive Committee was formed, comprised of former AITI participants. The new Executive Committee, led by Michael Gordon, realized that both the program structure and the curriculum were in need of an overhaul to keep pace with the rapid developments in information and communication technologies in Africa. As mobile phones became the most accessible computing and communication device to most Africans, traditional computer science topics, such as Internet development and UNIX, became less relevant to African students.
The new Executive Committee spent the year developing new curriculum and cementing new partnerships that will secure AITI's effectiveness in the future. Most notably, AITI partnered with MIT's Entrepreneurial Programming and Research of Mobiles (EPROM) headed by Nathan Eagle. This partnership has enriched both organizations as AITI's student/instructors can teach at EPROM's partner institutions in Africa where local expertise is lacking. Also, each of our curriculums has benefited from exchange of ideas and topics.
Kenya 2007
2007's AITI Kenya team was comprised of four undergraduate and one graduate MIT student. The students backgrounds ranged from physics, to computer science, to management and business. After being selected, the team immediately reviewed the curriculum and began making preparations for the summer. The team realized that mobile phone programming would be an appropriate addition to the curriculum given the incredible growth of mobile phones in Kenya (and Africa). The team, led by Michael Gordon, developed slides, labs and projects for this curriculum that focused on J2ME mobile phone programming. The Kenya team taught at both Strathmore University in Nairobi and also at Alliance Boys High School in Kikuyu. While the summer proved to be extremely challenging in many ways, it also was an amazingly rewarding experience as we had the chance to not only observe, but also to become a part of the educational system and culture of Kenya. We interacted with and motivated the students by not only teaching them, but also by providing them with advice about pursuing careers in technology and choosing among various academic paths in Kenya and and the United States.
Participants
| Lawrence Chan |
| Stephanie Dudzic |
| Michael Gordon |
| Gleb Kuznetsov |
| Zawadi Lemayian |
Movies and Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
MIT AITI Kenya 2007 Alliance High School, Kikuyu, Kenya from MIT AITI on Vimeo.
Ethiopia 2007
Four MIT student/instructors taught a Java and Entrepreneurship Course at Addis Ababa, University, Ethiopia.
Participants
| Silvia Baptista |
| Danielle Hinton |
| Michael Hurley |
| Ammar Jiwaji |
Pictures
Kenya 2006
2006 AITI Kenya team was composed of a unique mix of MIT students: two graduate students in computer science, one from South Korea and one from Nigeria; an African American graduate student in urban planning; a Finnish junior majoring in Economics; and an Indian sophomore from Texas in neuroscience. Teaching at Strathmore University and Alliance Boys High School proved to be a challenging but rewarding experience as the team had a chance to immerse themselves in the educational culture of Kenya and interact and motivate the students by providing them with advice about pursuing education in the US. The comprehension level varied amongst the students at Strathmore and Alliance, which forced them to alter the curriculum and the teaching techniques to maximize the experiences of as many students as possible.
Participants
| Bosun Adeoti |
| Myung Jin Choi |
| Shawntel Hines |
| Juan Prajogo |
| Ricky Savjani |
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Ethiopia 2006
The 2006 Ethiopia team was compromised of five MIT student instructors. They traveled to the city of Addis Ababa. The AITI course was hosted by the Addis Ababa University. The program was quite popular as the AITI diploma has grown to be recognized by local employers as a mark of excellence. The AITI program consisted of lectures covering Java programming and Entrepreneurship.
Participants
| Bruck Assefa |
| Jeremy Franklin |
| Saba Gul |
| Julie Laure Maison |
| Tawanda Sibanda |
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Zambia 2005
MIT AITI successfully expanded it's model to this Central African country. The program was based in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city. The two locations were the International School of Lusaka and The Zambia College of Accountacy Studies.
Participants
|
Yaw Anku ('07) Jamira Cotton ('08) Edward Mabonga ('06) Pallavi Naresh(Grad) Matt Papi ('08) |
Testimonials
The zeal and energy shown by the Zambian students was amazing. They not only learned about principles of programming but also acquired the skills useful in applying their technical knowledge through the Entrepreneurship program. My participation in AITI has given me a new appreciation for the opportunities available to me studying in the United States. The challenges involved implementing the program arms one with teamwork, mentoring and leadership skills that will definitely be invaluable in the future.- Edward Mabonga, Zambia 05
Ghana 2005
A team of four MIT students successfully completed the program at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Participants
|
Adjoa Poku ('06) Irinaa Azu ('07) Nada Amin ('05) Michael Fleder ('08) Robert Beverly (Grad) |
Kenya 2005
The program was based at the Alliance High School, Kikuyu. The school is located 30 minutes away from Nairobi. The other location was Strathmore University located in Nairobi.
Participants
|
Curtis Vanderpuije ('05) Marta Lucyzanka ('06) Steve Weiss (Grad) Zahir Dossa ('08) Bilha Ndirangu ('06) Robert Leke ('07) |
Testimonials
The MIT AITI experience is a true embodiment of what an MIT education is all about. The combination of team work, engineering application and community service through empowering brilliant African students was a great learning experience. I really enjoyed teaching and helping students acquire skills that will make a difference in their lives. AITI was definitely one of the most rewarding things I have done at MIT.-Bilha Ndirangu, Kenya 05
Ghana 2004
Participants
|
Tamara Stern ('06) Lauri Kauppila ('06) Aisha Walcott (Grad) Samuel Gikandi ('05) Ato Ulzen-Appiah ('06) |
Testimonials
AITI is a very organized student organization. It breathes and practices excellence and impact. AITI was an invaluable resource in preparing me and my team for our summer assignment. The summer assignment was very exciting for me and I loved living out AITI's goals. AITI is an initiative that is going places and I want to go places with them.- Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Ghana 2004
Taking part in AITI this summer has been my most rewarding experience in college. AITI gave me the chance to influence the lives of brilliant African students and empower them with skills that will greatly help them advance their professional lives. I was also given the chance of experiencing the culture and hospitality of the Ghanaian people, who showed a lot of appreciation for the initiative that we took in taking this course to Africa.- Samuel Gikandi, Ghana 2004
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Ethiopia 2004
Participants
|
Ashenafi Befekadu ('05) Emina Torlak (Grad) David Friend ('07) Qian Wang ('05) Jamal Isa ('06) |
Testimonials
MIT AITI has been one of the most eye opening experiences I've had at MIT. People often complain that students here are too caught up in the Tech bubble to realize there is life outside of Athena and school work. The MIT AITI program will teach you the world is a huge but wonderful place. From road blocks due to donkey and sheep crossings to teaching students about Java and P. Diddy, a few sentences can not convey the amazing six weeks of emotional growth I experienced in Ethiopia.- Qian Wang, Ethiopia 2004
"I believe that every MIT student should be blessed with an opportunity to participate in AITI. It is a life changing experience that will not only give a full sense of satifaction, but also a keen sense of awareness and realization of how blessed we all are here in the USA.You will find yourself working harder than you ever have because of the responsibility that you will assume."- Jamal Isa, Ethiopia 2004
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Kenya 2004
Participants
|
Sha Ma (Grad) Josh WIlson ('06) Irene Murimi ('07) Bryant Harrison ('06) Daniel Aguayo (Grad) |
Testimonials
AITI was one of the most challenging and enriching
experiences I had while at MIT. It showed me that I
could use my engineering skills to help and empower
other students a world away. My career vision has
dramatically changed as a result of AITI, and I look
forward to working on similar challenges on the
continent in the future!
- Bryant Harrison, Kenya 2004
AITI was one of the most challenging and enriching experiences I had while at MIT. It showed me that I could use my engineering skills to help and empower other students a world away. My career vision has dramatically changed as a result of AITI, and I look forward to working on similar challenges on the continent in the future!
- Bryant Harrison, Kenya 2004
Ghana 2003
A team of 9 MIT student interns were in Accra, Ghana to implement the AITI program. The interns who were based in this capital city of Ghana taught a total of 96 students from two public high schools, Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School and Achimota School, and the University of Ghana. The technology course developed by MIT AITI had two objectives: At the high school level, the aim was to expose students to programming concepts and to inspire them to consider careers in IT. The objective at the university level was to teach good programming methodology and to encourage an applied problem-solving approach to programming. These objectives were executed using opensource and freely available technologies and software including J2SE, JSP, Apache WebServer, Tomcat and Sun One Studio IDE. Students who completed the course gained valuable technical knowledge in software development as well as practical programming skills.
Participants
|
Gregory Dennis Sonia Garg Evita Grant Dan Kim Eugenia Lyanshenko Connor Murray Jehanzeb Noor Robert Speaker |
Testimonials
My AITI experience in Ghana was an all-around enriching experience. I greatly enjoyed both teaching and learning about Ghanaian history and culture. Despite some difficulties with the language barrier and outdated computer technology, we were proud to complete an extensive curriculum and lay a foundation upon which the students could build. To this day, I still get emails from past AITI students about the new projects their pursuing using the knowledge and tools we gave them. It was well worth the time and effort.- Greg Dennis, Ghana 2003
One of the most culturally enriching, fun-filled, educational and productive trips I have ever been to. AITI enabled us to teach useful skills to Ghanaian students, while learning a lot about the local people and their way of life. Ghanaians are simply one of the friendliest and most beautiful people I have ever met. An AITI trip is a great service opportunity that complements the MIT experience.- Jehanzeb Noor, Pakistan, Class of 2004
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Ethiopia 2003
MIT AITI sent a team of seven MIT students to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to teach a technology course to a group of engineering students at the national university. The courses of study included the Java programming language, Java Server Pages (JSP) and the Linux operating system. The intention was to give the students exposure to modern open-source software used in the technology industry. Included with the technical curriculum, a seminar on entrepreneurship was offered in which the students were taught about business planning and development. This seminar included a series of lectures on business opportunities given by prominent local industrialists and government officials. Overall, the program was a great success, not only teaching the students valuable skills which can be applied in the IT sector, but also giving them ideas and encouragement to go out and build businesses of their own.
Participants
|
Vladimir Fleurima Manish Gaudi Mohammed Haji Ashish Koul Nasruddin Nazerali |
Testimonials
The summer I taught in Ethiopia is one of my most memorable and rewarding experiences. The enthusiasm of the students and their thirst for knowledge was truly unbelievable. At the end of the course, over 100 students had gained important programming skills and knowledge. Although we had successes, we were limited by the facilities of the Institute. Most computers were old and not equipped with the necessary software. Also, our student-teacher ratio was high, which made it difficult for us to interact with the students. Overall, we learned to solve these problems and the summer was a great success.- Mohammed Haji, Ethiopia 2003
Kenya 2003
Two groups of five students from the Strathmore
University, Kenya participated in a selfsustained learning
pilot program organized by MIT AITI. This pilot program
created and successfully implemented a new model of
teaching that is based on self learning with assistance
through the internet. With the support of the MIT AITI
interns in Boston and Kenya, as well as the support of the
staff at Strathmore University, these two groups of
students were able to self learn the MIT course 1.00
Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving Using
Java
. These students used the course material available
through MIT OpenCourseWare, and with the help provided by
MIT AITI via the Internet, were able to successfully
complete the course. As a result of the program, out of
the ten students whom completed to course, four students
are working on a medical database, four are setting up a
Java diploma course and two have become lab assistants at
Strathmore University.
Participants
|
Eric Mibuari Eston Kimani |
Kenya and Ghana 2002
The MIT-AITI program has successfully completed its third summer project in its third year of existence. The program has expanded this year to include a high school in Kenya and a whole new program in Ghana. These are the first steps in plans to expand the program's impact on Africa's technological advancement. A total of 14 students were selected from a growing pool of applicants to participate in this year's program. Seven students went to each of the countries to teach Java and related technologies over a six-week period to both college level and high school students. The teaching was intense and rigorous, but also flexible to accommodate student's needs. Apart from having more manpower, also new this year was the use of high tech LCD projectors for professional and clearer presentations.
Participants
| Kenya | Ghana |
|---|---|
| Paul K. Njoroge | Davis Wamola |
| Solomon Assefa | Flora Amwayi |
| Yaron Binur | Samidh Chakrabarti |
| Evelyn Eastmond | Selam Daniel |
| Peilei Fan | Christopher Emig |
| Ethan Howe | George Heming |
| Naveen Goela | Jacky Mallet |
Pictures
Here are 5 photos. Click on a photo to see the entire set.
Kenya 2001
We successfully completed our second summer program at Strathmore College, Nairobi, Kenya. Three MIT students organized a four week Java seminar and a one week UNIX course.
Participants
| Paul K. Njoroge |
| Samidh Chakrabarti |
| Katie Dunn |
Kenya 2000
In the summer of 2000, four MIT students conducted the inaugural MIT-AITI (African Internet Technology Initiative) project at Strathmore college in Kenya. The project involved teaching a four week Java seminar and a one week UNIX course. In addition to teaching, the MIT students helped improve the school network by delivering switches and a router which were integrated into the schools existing network. The goals of the project included: introducing web technology to an African school by teaching students how to write simple applications that utilize resources on the web, promoting cultural interaction between MIT and African students and providing the building blocks for both students and faculty that would enable them to explore the webÕs potential. The project achieved this and much more.
Participants
| Paul K. Njoroge |
| Andrew Nevins |
| Martin Mbaya |
| Eric Traub |