Dr. Ann Kingiri

Kingiri holds a Bsc degree in Agriculture and Msc degree in Plant Pathology both from University of Nairobi, Kenya; A Master’s degree in Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology from Mache Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy and a PhD degree from UK in Development Policy and Practice discipline focusing on new biosciences policy. She is also the Secretary General of The African Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics). This is a network of scholars working on how innovation and competence-building may be harnessed for development in Africa. She has served in various technical committees/taskforces. This includes the committee on “genes drive research in non-human organisms: recommendations for responsible conduct” commissioned by USA National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She is currently serving as a member of a new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation. She also serves as member of the GeneConvene Global Collaborative Advisory Board under the Foundation for the National Institute of Health (FNIH), USA. The work of this Board is to provide a technical oversight into governance of gene drives and other genetic biocontrol technologies for control of malaria and other public health uses. Ann is also serving as a non-executive director of Kenya Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC). She is a visiting research and academic fellow at University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), Kenya.

Kingiri has been pursuing interdisciplinary research on integrated approach to agricultural development and innovation with relevance to Africa’s inclusive and sustainable development. As a policy researcher, she continues to pursue policy-oriented research in STI, agriculture and bioenergy, including climate change and gender as cross cutting themes. Previously as a Research Fellow under the research into use (RIU) programme, she pursued collaborative research that focused on institutional and organisational change aimed at linking knowledge production to use for pro-poor development in Africa and Asia. During this period, she also carried out research that focused on agricultural bio-policy.

Kingiri has over 20 year’s public sector and research think tank management experience. As a Director of Research at ACTS, she coordinated generation and dissemination of STI knowledge through research, policy analysis and capacity building. This included coordinating the ACTS training arm, the Science, Technology & Policy Institute (STPI) for two years. STPI focuses particularly on building STI analysis capacity of different stakeholders- academics, policy makers, civil society and postgraduate students. Kingiri has worked with various policy actors mainly in East Africa to provide technical & regulatory advice on genetically modified biosciences applications. She continues to work with selected African institutions to build capacity on innovation and development with the ultimate aim of influencing policy and practice.

Kingiri is implementing several projects which includes the following:

2019 – 2022: Project Title: Transformative innovation, the 4th Industrial Revolution and sustainable development. Funding: Trilateral Chair grant from British Council & NRF, South Africa.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has taken central stage in academic and policy debates due to its potential for the transformation of economies and societies across the world. Considerations about 4IR highlight the impact that rapid technological advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, biotechnology and others will have in our production, consumption and social systems. While acknowledging that the magnitude of change is likely to be unprecedented and fast, the direction of such change remains uncertain. There is an increasing realisation that, if the direction of change is not carefully steered, 4IR will exacerbate existing social challenges. A commonly identified risk is that 4IR technologies could leave millions of people across the world without jobs, intensifying income inequalities. In this respect, the challenges faced by African countries are considered greater than those faced by technologically advanced countries, as disruptive technologies would be implemented in a context of low technical skills, deficient education and training systems, predominance of labour-intensive industries, severe inequalities, and endemic unemployment. This research programme has the ambition to develop and test a new theoretical framework to understand transformation, in the context of 4IR and from an African perspective. Ann is one of the three Co- PIs under this project being implemented by ACTS, Kenya, University of Johannesburg, South Africa and University of Sussex, UK.

2019 – 2021: Project Title: Supporting STEM research cultures in Africa – Building institutional capacity for computing research in Kenya. Funder – IDRC

This project is piloting an approach to build institutional capacity for the field of computer science in Kenya. The overall objective is to support a vibrant and sustainable research culture in computer science, in order to produce better quality research that strengthens local industry and helps Kenya reach its 2030 vision of becoming a high-middle income country, and supports development objectives in agriculture, health, finance, and transport. Ann is the co- Principal Investigator (PI) of the project being implemented by ACTS, Kenya and California Polytechnic University, USA.

AfricaLics activities are aimed at building research capacity in the specific field of innovation and economic development, both at the individual, institutional and country levels. This consequently would allow African countries to design policies suitable and responsive to their own needs, and instigate corrective measures to ensure the smooth production, dissemination and use of knowledge for economic development, including poverty alleviation. This project is interrogating the applicability of existing innovation frameworks in Africa’s context and partners with African universities in building capacity in innovation studies targeting Msc and PhD programmes. Ann under this programme has been working with several Universities in Africa to build capacity on Problem Based Learning as a tool for enhancing innovation research capacity. She has been popularizing the Master’s Module on Innovation and Development that provides guidance in mainstreaming innovation within respective education curriculums across Universities in Africa. AfricaLics activities are largely funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).