When Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile network operator opted to  “aid” the growth of innovation in Kenya by initiating a process for welcoming and working with Vendors and Premium Rate Service Providers, you would be excused to think that there is a brighter future for developers in this East African nation. I beg to differ. There seems to be a problem that cannot be ignored.

Before we look into the unwelcome problem that Safaricom has introduced into the ICT industry in Kenya, we have got to understand what Safaricom Innovation actually is. In my personal opinion based on what their website says, Safaricom Innovation feels like a cheap cross between Apple’s App Store and Nokia’s Calling All Innovator promotion that has been running for a couple of years now.

With the introduction of Safaricom Innovation Forum you would think that Safaricom has run out of ideas from within it’s staff and has now gone hunting in the wider software developer community,  maybe hoping that the devs who fall into the snare will not take time out to read the terms and conditions that Safaricom has posted on this page. They are probably right so I have taken the time to post a part of it below.

The sections of the Safaricom Innovation Forum terms and conditions which the Innovators must agree to that are quite disturbing to me are as follows:

(a) That the submissions and its contents will automatically become the property of Safaricom, without any compensation whatsoever to you;

(b) That Safaricom may use or redistribute the submissions and their contents for any purpose and in any way;

How Does This Incubate Innovation?

The answer is simple. There is no way on earth that this stimulates innovation and leaves me wonder what would be the motivation to the Innovator to come up with the next killer App? How would an app developer go through the pains of trawling through their hidden brain chambers only to hand over the greatest technological idea to Safaricom to reap the full benefits of his labor? To be forced to sit back and rubbed in the face with all sorts of promotions and ads in the local press and TV and radio.

This is nothing more than the classical reap off. You have the Big guys with the muscle and the financial might. Get the little guy to do all the thinking, rob them off their fresh idea and kick them to the curb. Now that’s cold. It is so interesting to see the contrast in the terms that Nokia through its Calling All Innovators contest rules has in relation to what Safaricom has.Here is an extract from the Calling All Innovators rules page:

… All entries shall remain the property of Entrants. However by submitting an Entry, Entrant acknowledges that Sponsor may obtain many entries under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme to …

I need not elaborate on this as you can clearly see what it states. Nokia is clearly stimulating innovation as if your idea doesn’t go through you can still take it up independently. With Safaricom, you can kiss your idea goodbye.

I don’t want to speculate too deeply into this but all I can say is, if you are the innovator that Safaricom is trying to lasso then you had better be clear about what rights to your brain thoughts you are serving up to Safaricom. As long as Safaricom keeps the terms and conditions as they are then I would advise any one thinking of getting involved in the Safaricom Innovation Forum to scrap those thoughts and run as far as possible from the Safaricom offices.

Now that is how you kill innovation, its no wonder nations like Kenya even though they have really smart guys, it is quite hard to to make it as they stand the risk of having themselves being robbed off their hard thought out ideas.