Hypercube to launch tech hub in Harare

Yesterday, we received received a press release from Taps Murove, the Operations Manager of a new tech hub set to launch in Harare called, according to the release, Hypercube Technology Trust. Here’s the full release:

The launch of Hypercube in November will mark it as the first technology hub in Zimbabwe. In recent years, technology hubs have taken centre stage as sources of innovation and collaboration across Africa, yet Zimbabwe has lagged behind in this crucial area.  This is not surprising given the country’s recent economic history, but with the stabilisation of the economy following the introduction of the US dollar, the Hypercube team is eager to see Zimbabwe catch up with the rest of the continent.

Hypercube, whose mantra is “Tech in 4D”, will set out to strengthen the country’s technology ecosystem by focusing on what they term as “The 4 Dimensions of Technology”, which are Community, Co-Learning, Co-Working, and Co-Innovation. The Tech Hub will have 4 distinct spaces dedicated to each of these dimensions, and will offer a variety of membership options targeted towards meeting the different needs of people within the tech community. At its core, Hypercube will aim to be an open and inclusive space where anyone interested in technology, particularly local developers, can participate in a range of events and programs.

The Hypercube Board of Advisors, which is made up of Nikki Kershaw, Nigel Mugamu, Rinesh Desai, Munya Chiura, and Taps Murove, has also committed to working to increase the participation of women in the technology sector, as well as stimulating job creation for the youth through entrepreneurship. Hypercube has already started engaging with local, regional, and international partners, and is planning a number of launch events in November.

We responded with questions:

– How is the hub funded i.e. by who and how much?
– Where [will] the actual spaces be in Harare?
– What does the hub hope to achieve say, in the first year or 2?

His responses:

This is really a preliminary press release to simply make people aware that we exist, and give the community an idea of when we’ll launch. We’ll release the bulk of the information that you’re looking for progressively over the next few weeks as those details become concrete.

About the funding, we’re still ironing out the details so, unfortunately, I can’t talk about the particulars at the moment. But I promise to get you all the details once everything is concluded with our funders.

About the space, we’re looking at a few properties that meet our needs but haven’t locked one down yet. Though, I can confirm that it will be near the CBD and easily accessible with public transport. Likewise, I’ll let you know when it’s certain.

On the issue of what we hope to achieve in the first year: Our central focus is on helping to develop the tech ecosystem in Zimbabwe, and we feel in order to do that we need to collaborate and work together with all the people and organisations who are already committed to developing the local tech sector, including those with a focus on social development. So during our first year, we’ll be having a lot of events that build the local tech community such as hackathons, discussion forums, and development labs, and anticipate that many of these events will be in partnership with other local, and regional organisations. We are also plan to launch a number of initiatives targeted specifically at increasing the participation of women in tech, as well as programs that engage certain groups that have traditionally been sidelined, such as those with physical disabilities. In addition, our Co-working space will be set aside to give Startups the resources they need get their ideas off the ground, and we also plan to offer a broad range of learning options through our Co-Learning space, with the aim of exposing the local community to the the economic opportunities that are available through technology.

I hope that helps. But like I said, we’ll be making a lot more information available over the coming weeks leading up to the launch. I’d just like to underline though, that we want to work together with other local groups, and organisations. We are fully aware that there are other people who are just as eager to see the local tech sector develop as we are, and while we’re actively seeking out local partners, we also encourage anyone who is interested to reach to us so that we can being to explore ways that we can work together.

In recent months, Econet (the non-profit part of it called Higher Life Foundation that is) has also been working to launch its own tech hub locally, and currently have a landing page here and some twitter presence here. There have also been indications some non-profits (Indigo Trust and Hivos) and embassies (the US one) are looking to fund locals to do a tech hub. We’re guessing Hypercube is it.