“This is an inspiring and beautiful working environment for techies!” said Laurene Job, wife of late Steve Jobs, when she visited kLab las June. Indeed she was right; kLab is such a beautiful place that inspires many to continuously write codes thus creating innovations in the field of software. Opened in June 2012, kLab has been a working place for hundreds of techies; it has also attracted many visitors both locals and internationals as it reflects what is happening on Rwandan tech scene.

“I didn’t know I could do some programming work for Japanese based clients”, says Laurien, a kLab tenant who just got back from Tokyo to do some PHP development consultancy work for a Japanese client. “Through kLab, I was connected to a local company that also linked me to japan-based client,” he concludes smiling. Apart from providing a working space, kLab also detects local talents and source jobs for them. Within 14 months of operation, more than 30 jobs for both international and local clients were created through kLab.

Program like kLab Campus program are being enforced to reach out to brilliant students in high learning institutions. Once identified, kLab partners with training institutions to design customized courses for its tenants thus allowing them to upgrade their skills which they apply in their projects or use while conducting consultancies. “Big thanks to kLab, I just got back from Tanzania to attend a training on iHRIS, an intra-health Human Resource Information System used by the Ministry of Health, “comments Davis. He is part of kLab tenants who benefited from an intense 8 weeks programing course offered by a Carnegie Mellon Professor to kLab. He successfully completed it and was recommended by kLab to attend the training he mentioned after which he is going to be hired by the Ministry of Health as software developer. kLab also partners with multinationals to conduct short courses on new technologies. A few weeks ago, in partnership with Samsung, a 3 days android bootcamp was organized. “The Android training we went through these 3 days was very practical and far better from what we study in class” said Eugene at the end of the bootcamp.

kLab is also a birthplace of innovations and companies. Moussa and Diogene are two young fresh graduates who met at kLab. After building strong synergies they decided to co-create a company, Khenz LTD. Their company is specialized in web applications, currently they are finalizing a product called eTwende which shall allow transportation companies to have real time transactions and maintain a good customer relationship using handheld point of sales. They managed to convince one of the kLab mentors who already bought shares in the company.

Collaboration and openness are two key values highly promoted at kLab, as result, there are many tech communities growing within the space. For instance we have; Girls in ICT, Rwanda Gamers, Rwanda Open Source Community, Rwanda Bloggers and a Multimedia team. All the mentioned groups gather at kLab on a weekly or monthly basis to share knowledge and tips in their respective areas of interests. If you think kLab is your place to be after reading this piece, don’t hesitate to join us. For further information about us, drop us an email via info@klab.rw

Open Data is coming to Rwanda, and kLab is likely to play a big role in it. Open Data is a rapidly growing movement around the world, with more than 250 governments pursuing Open Data initiatives. Governments at all levels understand that Open Data is a powerful catalyst for innovation, entrepreneurship and improved public services, in addition to an enabler of transparency and accountability. Recognizing this global trend, the Government of Rwanda recently requested the World Bank to assist in a preliminary assessment of Rwanda’s readiness to launch a national Open Data initiative. In response, a team of experts from the government and the Bank are partnering to conduct an Open Data Readiness Assessment (ODRA) in Rwanda.

ODRA is based on a methodology developed by the World Bank to assist governments in diagnosing what actions could consider in order to establish an Open Data initiative. This means more than just launching an Open Data portal for publishing data. An Open Data initiative involves addressing both the supply and the reuse of Open Data. And that is where kLab comes into the picture. Data by itself is useless for most people. To create real value, Open Data must be turned into something — a map, a mobile application, a new service— that people can use. Developers are vital for this.

The Rwanda ODRA exercise began during the week of June 10th, and the assessment team had the opportunity to meet kLab management, mentors and a group of kLab tenants. Jeff Kaplan, one of the original creators of the ODRA methodology for the World Bank, led the discussions on behalf of the ODRA team. During a lively meeting at kLab, it quickly became clear that Open Data could prove useful for a number of projects being developed by kLab tenants – from a tourism portal to mobile agriculture and nutrition apps. The technical skills and talent of kLab tenants will be an essential resource for Rwanda’s Open Data efforts. kLab developers and entrepreneurs are well positioned to transform Open Data into viable apps and services that can both showcase the value of Open Data and even help produce the next big commercial success in Rwanda’s ICT market.

A few weeks ago I found out an article talking about ten top places to visit while in Kigali and guess what, kLab is on the list. The person who did the ranking was not mistaken at all; kLab is such a unique place in Rwanda where tech innovators gather to develop tech solutions. On June 13, 2013 while wrapping up to head home after a busy day at work, I received a call from someone I really respect, someone behind lots of ICT changes undergoing in Rwanda – Patrick Nyirishema, the Head of RDB-IT. He first asks how are things going at kLab, I give some updates and then comes the big news. “Claude, someone very important will be visiting kLab tomorrow”, he says. With a lot of curiosity I ask, who Sir? “Steve Job’s wife/widow, she in town and would like to visit kLab” he clarifies. By the time the call ended, I was already excited about the news. I personally admire Steve Jobs work – he was a genius! Now Imagine spending some time with the wife – isn’t it amazing? The next day as usual I get at work early in the morning, as usual I first do a to-do list for the day and part of it, I add give a tour to Laurene Powell Jobs. Afterwards the news was disseminated among the wider kLab community.

At around 2:45pm, some bazungu enter kLab, when I go receive them I notice there is no woman among them. We do the introductions and finds out that it’s Steve Jobs brother in law and his son. A few minutes later, Laurene Jobs with the daughters enter kLab, wow amazing! They enter holding bourbon coffee take away cups enjoying the Rwandan coffee while visiting. I give them a detailed kLab tour, as we walk through kLab, Laurene just points at one of the kLab tenants and says; “you made a right choice, you are using a great machine”, we all turn to see what kind of laptop is that. I assume you can all guess – it was a macbook pro. What else should we expect from the brand founder’s wife! The tour goes on, kind of impressed by kLab interior design she asks: “but who designed this place, a local person?” A Rwandan interior designer, I respond. I know some of you are already curious; you are welcome to visit as she did. After the tour, she meets some of the people and goes on asking questions about the project being developed by kLab tenants which she tries to link with her areas of interests. “I develop applications using iOS, a platform invented by Apple (Steve Jobs'), meeting his wife/widow is amazing” , says Peter, a kLab tenant who develops iOS applications.

The tour ends as she heads to Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda located just 2 floors under kLab. It was great meeting the wife of late Steve jobs, one of the greatest innovators of all time.