Nairobi university allies with Chinese tech giant to tackle cybercrime

The University of Nairobi (UoN) has formed a partnership with a leading Chinese cybersecurity and artificial intelligence company in an effort to tackle the growing challenges posed by cybercrime.

The collaboration with the SDIC Intelligence (Xiamen) Information Company was unveiled over the weekend after a high-level meeting between the two institutions in the Kenyan capital.

UoN Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise Francis Mulaa said that cybersecurity and AI are areas of growing strategic importance and that the university is keen to leverage global expertise and partnerships to build their local capacity.

The leader of the Chinese delegation Yao Yuping, while noting the positive attributes of developing technology, added that the expansion of digital infrastructure comes with a number of threats.

"It is therefore imperative that institutions like government agencies, universities and technology firms work hand-in-hand to create resilient and secure digital ecosystems," the director general of the Cyberspace Administration of Xiamen City said.

Tony Zhao, deputy general manager of strategy and foreign business manager at SDIC Intelligence, said he was enthusiastic about the partnership and the role the University of Nairobi could play in developing mutually beneficial projects in Africa.

Zhao said SDIC was open to collaborations involving student training, research exchanges and co-development of cybersecurity solutions tailored for African contexts.