Non-profit legal research and advisory firm HiiL has partnered Kenya’s Strathmore Law School to host an Innovating Justice event in Nairobi to gauge the readiness of East Africa for justice technology.
HiiL has been active within the African tech startup ecosystem of late, recently co-hosting the SME Empowerment Innovation Challenge for East and West Africa and launching an Innovating Justice Hub in Lagos, Nigeria.
The company is expected to expand these hubs across the continent, including in East Africa, and to that end will on April 21 bring together players from both the justice and the technology sectors to analyse ways of adopting tech solutions to hurdles curtailing the effectiveness of the justice sector.
Startups are likely to play a large role in this, with DIYLaw.ng, the winner of the SME Empowerment Innovation Challenge, already being incubated at the Lagos hub and applications for the 2016 challenge set to open soon.
“We are observing technology application in a number of sectors but the justice sector has largely been left out, especially across Africa. I believe adoption of technology is a key factor that will promote better access to justice for people across the continent,” said HiiL East Africa liaising agent Evelyne Wangui.
Head of the Innovating Justice Accelerator Wilfried De Wever said the conversations at the event would mark a good beginning to finding viable and lasting solutions for the justice sector.
“Bringing together key stakeholders is an important step in eliminating barriers that have been clogging the justice system,” he said.
The event will include a digital training workshop to be conducted by The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), while LegalZoom and the Strathmore Law School will impart further skills on running a successful SME and the laws governing intellectual property (IP) rights.
Those interested in attending can register here for both the morning and afternoon sessions of the event, with the morning sessions specifically geared towards entrepreneurs.
