Speakers at the largest technology and innovation parks conference
IASP Nairobi 2024
From 23-27 September, Nairobi hosted the 2024 edition of the annual congress of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP), the world’s leading association of innovation ecosystems.
This year’s congress focused on demographics, entrepreneurship and technology.
Our colleagues Aitor González Marina and Yolanda Cerezo attended the conference on behalf of IDOM, where Yolanda Cerezo presented the Diamniadio Technology Park in Senegal and shared the keys to a successful park. Among them:
1.- To carry out a correct phasing of the Master Plan.
2.- Correctly plan the location, from the point of view of mobility and the urban environment.
3.- To give a sustainable approach to the design
4.- Elaborate an adequate financial and economic study of the project up to the operation phase
5.- To have the necessary funding (public and private) and the future operators of the park from the design phases.
In terms of design, it has been emphasised that passive strategies (such as the double façade or, in this case, the double roof) are fundamental to minimising energy consumption and ensuring the comfort of users. The use of appropriate air-conditioning systems and the possibility of producing renewable energy are also aspects to be taken into account in the design, as is the use of local materials that allow for the proper maintenance of the buildings and their installations.
Together with Yolanda Cerezo, Adrianna Faria, IASP President for Latin America, and Julius Gatune, member of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) and representative of the UNESCO Futures Chair at the Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology (DeKUT), presented technology park projects in Brazil and in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda, respectively, from a financing, governance and operational scheme approach.
Congress activities included a visit to Konza Technopolis, a smart city project under construction 70 km from Nairobi.
