Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Technology Development, Prof. Alfred Orina, has called on institutions to critically examine their culture and the policies that shape digital transformation so that technology adoption becomes meaningful, sustainable, and aligned to long-term institutional goals. Prof. Orina was speaking during the 2nd Digital Transformation Summit, themed; “Scaling Digital Transformation in Kenyan Institutions: Leveraging Emerging Technologies in the Institutions of Higher Learning”. The summit was hosted on 28th November 2025 by TU-K in collaboration with Strathmore University.
In this opening remarks, Prof. Orina emphasised that genuine transformation required more than the acquisition of new systems, but a cultural shift and reinforced partnership to sustain the process.
“As we gather here today, I encourage all participants to reflect not only on the tools and technologies that define digital transformation, but also on the institutional cultures, policy frameworks, and strategic partnerships that are needed to sustain it,” he said.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic revealed a remarkable capacity for Kenya’s education sector to innovate under pressure. He noted that learning activities that were once considered optional, including virtual classrooms, digital libraries, and online platforms became lifelines for learning. However, this rapid shift, should not be mistaken for true digital transformation. Prof Orina insisted that digital transformation must be rooted in long-term planning, institutional coherence, and readiness.
“The pandemic taught us that technology is not simply an add-on, it is a core enabler of modern, agile, and future-ready institutions.” Moving forward, universities must prepare intentionally, redesigning processes, modernising governance structures, and anticipating future disruptions rather than responding to them,” the DVC stressed.
Further, Prof Orina also emphasised that the digital transformation cannot be achieved in isolation, as such strategic collaboration including the collective leadership of universities, industry experts, government agencies, technology developers and international partners is required to sustain it. He concluded by encouraging participants to share their successes and challenges so that they can learn from each other.
Also was Dr. Patrick Wafula Okanya, who represented the Executive Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Prof. Francis Gatheri.
Dr. Okanya reminded participants that digital transformation was a continuous evolution. “Digital transformation is not a destination, it’s a journey that requires commitment, creativity, and courage.”
He celebrated the progress made by lecturers in embracing hybrid learning models, administrators streamlining systems, and universities cultivating communities of practice that sustain innovation.
His remarks were echoed by Prof. Selasio Kiura, TU-K Digit Africa Lead, who emphasised that digital transformation is not a one-off thing.
“Digital transformation is a process which we use to leverage digital technologies, we are talking about shifts, and transformations, in terms of how we operate, we deliver value, and adapt to changing environments,” said Prof. Kiura.
“For us to embrace AI in our course materials, we are going to have to re-evaluate how we offer these courses, and those are the processes, how we automate, recognize successful completion, that’s the assessment and the evaluations and of course embrace technology at the end of it.”
Prof. Kiura said the next steps for the project is to create a vibrant community of practice, one that brings together academia, government, SMEs, and industry partners to drive shared innovation.
This is the second summit hosted under Digitafrica, a collaborative initiative aimed at designing a Pan-African research infrastructure in digital sciences. The project seeks to strengthen research and innovation capacities, foster partnerships between Africa and Europe, and drive digital transformation to address societal challenges.
It is funded by the Erasmus+. It brings together universities from 4 Africa countries including Kenya, Guinea, Tunisia and Madagascar and European partners from Spain and France.
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