Shikoh Gitau

Last updated
Dr. Shikoh Gitau
Borncirca 1981
Mathare, Kenya
Nationality Kenyan
Alma mater Africa Nazarene University
University of Cape Town
Known forM-Ganga (founder)
Ummeli (founder)

Dr. Shikoh Gitau (circa 1981) is a Kenyan computer scientist. She finished her undergraduate studies in Computer Science at the Africa Nazarene University and attained her PhD at University of Cape Town. [1] She is known for inventing M-Ganga and Ummeli, mobile applications for promoting health and medicine and matching unemployed workers with employment opportunities. Gitau was the first African to win the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, received in the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing based on her inventions and thesis. [2] She contributes and manages the Technology Innovations for Inclusive Growth program, where she is presently employed in the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). [3]

Contents

Early life

Gitau was born to a working-class family in Mathare. Soon after her birth, her family lost their property in Mathare in the aftermath of the 1982 Kenyan Coup D'état Attempt and were forced to settle with relatives in Nakuru. During her childhood in Nakuru, Gitau saw her first collegiate graduation ceremony on television. She credits witnessing a woman receive a PhD from then-president Daniel arap Moi during this broadcast with motivating her to pursue higher education. [1]

Gitau completed her undergraduate studies at the Africa Nazarene University (ANU) in Nairobi. Her career at ANU was marked by academic excellence: she remained on the Honor Roll and Dean's List during all four years of her education, and earned the university's Merit and Leadership Awards in 2003 and 2005, respectively. After receiving her degree, she worked briefly as a UNICEF volunteer before taking a job as a program's assistant at the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, a Kenyan political activism group. [2] She worked there until 2007, when she enrolled in the University of Cape Town to pursue an M.Sc. and subsequently a PhD in Computer Science. [4]

Career

Gitau has worked in a plethora of different areas to benefit African development. Her most notable career achievement is her mobile application "Ummeli". [5] This application, created in June 2010, matches unemployed people with employers in need of their skills. Due to its low cost and practical use, its potential to change unemployment in labor markets is very high. Umelli is available in South Africa now and is projected to become available in other African countries. In December 2010, Gitau started working for Google Inc's Emerging Markets where she "identified, researched and designed the www.beba.co.keconcept and worked on its introduction to Kenya’s Transit system". [6] In January 2011, Gitau was a co-founder and research mentor for iHub_Research, where she was on the forefront of research on mobile internet usage in Africa and worked on the Microsoft oneApp project. [6] Currently, Gitau works in the ICT department of the African Development Bank (AfDB) working on developing various projects with different governments across Africa. [7]

Awards and Recognitions

On July 31, 2013, Gitau became one of three people to win the ABIE Change Agent Award. She made history by becoming the first African to win the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. She was recognized with fellow honorees in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 5 during the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC). [8]

In 2017, Gitau was recognized as the Most Influential Women CEO Global for East Africa under the Information and communications technology (ICT) sector by the Independent Magazine. [9]

Other [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Hopper</span> American computer scientist, mathematician, and US Navy admiral (1906–1992)

Grace Brewster Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming who invented one of the first linkers. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and the FLOW-MATIC programming language she created using this theory was later extended to create COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Borg</span> American computer scientist

Anita Borg was an American computer scientist celebrated for advocating for women’s representation and professional advancement in technology. She founded the Institute for Women and Technology and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Africa Nazarene University</span> University in Kenya

Africa Nazarene University is a private Christian-founded university in, Kenya, and an affiliate of The Church of the Nazarene Colleges and Universities around the world. Africa Nazarene University is fully accredited by the Commission for University Education and the International Board of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorcas Muthoni</span> Kenyan computer engineer and businesswoman

Dorcas Muthoni is a Kenyan entrepreneur, computer scientist and founder of OPENWORLD LTD, a software consulting company she started at the age of 24. Through her work as an entrepreneur and computer scientist, Muthoni seeks to see technology positively transforming the lives of the African society, governments and enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AnitaB.org</span>

AnitaB.org is a global nonprofit organization based in Belmont, California. Founded by computer scientists Anita Borg and Telle Whitney, the institute's primary aim is to recruit, retain, and advance women in technology.

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world's largest gathering of women in computing. The celebration, named after computer scientist Grace Hopper, is organized by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. GHC 2022 conference was held hybrid in Orlando and virtually at the end of September 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telle Whitney</span> American computer scientist

Telle Whitney is the former CEO and President of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. A computer scientist by training, she cofounded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing with Anita Borg in 1994 and joined the Anita Borg Institute in 2002.

Anne Elizabeth Condon, is an Irish-Canadian computer scientist, professor, and former head of the Computer Science Department of the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on computational complexity theory, DNA computing, and bioinformatics. She has also held the NSERC/General Motors Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering from 2004 to 2009, and has worked to improve the success of women in the sciences and engineering.

Lydia E. Kavraki is a Greek-American computer scientist, the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science, a professor of bioengineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering at Rice University. She is also the director of the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice University. She is known for her work on robotics/AI and bioinformatics/computational biology and in particular for the probabilistic roadmap method for robot motion planning and biomolecular configuration analysis.

Systers, founded by Anita Borg, is an international electronic mailing list for technical women in computing. The Syster community strives to increase the number of women in computer science and improve work environments for women. The mailing list has operated since 1987, making it the oldest of its kind for women in computer science. It is likely the largest email community of women in computing. The name 'Systers' originated from the combination of the words systems and sisters.

Many in Canada share concerns about the current and future roles of women in computing, especially as these occupations increase in importance. As in many nations where computing and information technology are large industries, women in Canada have historically faced underrepresentation in education and industry. As a result, some Canadian women pursuing careers in these fields have had a lack of role models and faced sexism. There are many institutions and initiatives in Canada, however, which seek to increase representation for women in computing fields, as well as the fields of natural science and engineering in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of women in computing</span>

This is a timeline of women in computing. It covers the time when women worked as "human computers" and then as programmers of physical computers. Eventually, women programmers went on to write software, develop Internet technologies and other types of programming. Women have also been involved in computer science, various related types of engineering and computer hardware.

Laura M. Haas is an American computer scientist noted for her research in database systems and information integration. She is best known for creating systems and tools for the integration of heterogeneous data from diverse sources, including federated technology that virtualizes access to data, and mapping technology that enables non-programmers to specify how data should be integrated.

Joanne Louise McGrath Cohoon was an American sociologist noted for her research on gender imbalance in computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACM-W</span> Subdivision of the Association for Computing Machinery

The Association for Computing Machinery's Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W) supports, celebrates, and advocates internationally for the full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field, providing a wide range of programs and services to ACM members and working in the larger community to advance the contributions of technical women. ACM-W is an active organization with over 36,000 members.

Valerie Barr is an American computer scientist, and is the Margaret Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Bard College. She formerly held the Jean Sammet endowed chair in the department of Computer Science at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She is known for her work with women in computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruthe Farmer</span>

Ruthe Farmer is an American policymaker and activist focused on increasing girls' participation in technology and engineering. She is founder and CEO of the Last Mile Education Fund and also serves as the Chief Evangelist for CSforAll and she was a senior policy advisor for tech inclusion at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Obama administration and Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at the National Center for Women & Information Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anicia Peters</span> Namibian computer scientist

Anicia Peters is a Namibian computer scientist specializing in human–computer interaction (HCI). She is the CEO of the National Commission of Research, Science and Technology (NCRST).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Liu</span>

Holly Liu is an American businesswoman and venture capitalist. She is the co-founder of the mobile gaming company Kabam. She is currently Non-Executive Director and Strategic Adviser to Animoca's board of directors.

Andrea Delgado-Olson is a computer scientist, founder of Native American Women in Computing (NAWiC), and a member of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians. She is the chief operating officer of technology startup ZaaWink.

References

  1. 1 2 "Genius who captured Google's heart". The Standard (Kenya). December 25, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Rottok, KC (May 30, 2011). "Shikoh Gitau: First African to receive a Google Award". The African Professional. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Shikoh Gitau". HuffPost . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Get to know Shikoh". Aspen Institute . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Kenyan Female PhD Innovation Leads To Google Job". Diaspora Messenger. 19 June 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Shikoh (Silvian) Gitau". Curriculum Vitae . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  7. ↑ "SHIKOH GITAU-NYAGAH". about.me . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Anita Borg Institute Announces Winners of 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) ABIE Awards". Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. July 31, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  9. ↑ "CEO AWARDS: Wangusa is E.Africa's most influential woman in art, culture". 25 September 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.