The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s technology ecosystem is quietly but steadily redefining what innovation looks like in East Africa. From Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Virtual Reality (VR), local innovators are no longer content with experimenting on the fringes. Instead, they are building practical solutions aimed at real problems particularly in healthcare, education and service delivery.
That momentum was on full display in a recent episode of The Ugandan Podcast, which brought together some of the country’s leading voices in emerging technology to unpack what it takes to move innovation from idea to impact.
The episode featured Grace Kebirungi, Project Coordinator for Health Innovation Projects at the African Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences; Martin Mukama from Mbarara University of Science and Technology; and Dr. Sylvia Nabukenya, a Research Scientist at the Makerere AI Health Lab. Together, they offered a grounded view of Uganda’s innovation landscape; one shaped less by hype and more by collaboration and systems thinking.
Rather than focusing on familiar challenges such as limited funding or infrastructure gaps, the discussion centred on solutions. The panel emphasized that Uganda already has much of the talent it needs and what remains critical is coordination across disciplines and institutions.
Dr. Nabukenya, whose work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare, underscored the importance of collective problem solving in unlocking investment and scale. “Funding follows collaboration,” she explained. “When innovators, clinicians, software developers, language experts and health economists come together around a community validated problem, it becomes easier to build strong proposals and attract meaningful investment.”
Mukama approached the discussion from the university pipeline. He argued that Uganda can only compete if students graduate with skill, structure and direction. “A thriving ecosystem is one where innovators don’t have to chase funding abroad. Government, academia, and the private sector must jointly create structures that nurture ideas from prototype to commercialization.” For him, students should enter the job market with more than theory. They need exposure, mentorship and real environments where ideas turn into products.
Kebirungi brought the VR conversation to life by centering women, precision and opportunity. She explained why women have a natural edge in VR development. “Virtual reality thrives on extreme attention to detail and that’s a strength women naturally bring. When someone wears a VR headset, they’re cut off from the real world. That virtual space must feel accurate, comfortable, and human.”
Her encouragement to young women landed with conviction. “To any young woman watching who never imagined VR could belong to her, this is your space too. Emerging technologies need your eye, your touch, and your creativity.” She pushed back against the idea that women belong only in design. “Beyond design, women absolutely have a place in programming. Courses teach you the theory, but the transition into real-world development needs practical environments and that’s what we offer at the African Centre of Excellence.”
The conversation shifted back to AI and the responsibility around data where Dr. Nabukenya cautioned and called for a national data storage facility, a foundation she said Uganda lacks.
“Clinical data is collected every day across public and private sectors. If innovators had access to a secure, centralized, well-managed health data repository, we would accelerate the development of AI tools that truly serve our population.” She added that fragmented data slows research. “A one-stop centre for health data would empower our students, our innovators, and our institutions to build the tools Uganda needs today and in the future.”
Ethics remained a recurring thread. Dr. Nabukenya stressed transparency when collecting datasets. “People need to understand what their data is being used for, how it may support commercial tools, and how they are contributing to society. Transparency builds trust.” She explained that consent is more than a signature. “When communities understand and consent to how their data will be used, they feel ownership of the final product. That buy-in makes adoption easier.”
Mukama capped off the discussion with a challenge to institutions. “Universities must become innovation ecosystems, places where data is collected, problems are defined, and solutions are built.” He argued that Uganda’s employment landscape will shift if students become creators. “When universities host innovation hubs, students graduate with solutions, prototypes, and even potential businesses. That shift creates job creators, not job seekers.”
By the end of the episode, one message stood out. Uganda’s tech growth is real because its innovators are blending collaboration, ethics, precision and bold thinking. AI and VR are no longer distant concepts. They are tools being shaped in labs, classrooms and community spaces across the country. The future is already in motion, and Uganda’s young innovators are stepping forward to build it.
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Episodes of the Ugandan Podcast are available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@ministryofictnationalguida3600), Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audiomack.
