Speaking during the two days conference, James Mwangi, PhD challenged participants of the various technological advancements in the last decade. “We have seen drones deliver medical supplies, we have AI writing prescription, we have driverless cars. The only constant is change,” he said.

He pointed out that research without innovation stays in journals in the library. He urged researchers to embrace innovation and make their work formidable and be able to change the world.

He also demystified the myth that technology and artificial intelligence will lead to loss of jobs. He opined that humans offer leadership, bias, accountability, empathy, judgment which machines and more so technology can’t achieve. “It is not competition, its collaboration. Project managers are nolonger buried in spreadsheets but more in leadership. Technology is here to help us do things faster and better. I urge students to acquire advanced skills on artificial intelligence, robotics, internet of things, data science and integrate that with knowledge on project management,” he said.

He urged industry players and the government to address the issue of brain drain since the best students and the best brains are taken abroad by the giant tech companies. He also challenged the government to offer incentives on AI research, mentorship and internships. To the industry players, he challenged them to invest more on up-skilling programs.

Regulatory agencies were challenged to invest more on laws that will protect citizenry more so on data protection and cyber security.

The two days conference brought together government, academia and industry players and offered them a platform to share ideas, innovations and research findings.

Prof. Stephen Odock, Chairman, Department of Management Science and Project Planning thanked the attendees for the exchange of ideas. “I am excited to see a great team of professionals, experts and students as they explore groundbreaking studies, “he said.