Meet Dr. Katherine Getao: Acclaimed Columnist And Now The CEO Of The ICT Authority

Her articles in the Daily Nation are funny and educative, and her column was the second longest running weekly column in the Saturday Nation. Now she is the CEO of the Information Communication and Technology Authority (ICT Authority)
Before that, she was the ICT Secretary at Ministry of Information Communication and Technology of Kenya.
Her early life
After completing her high school education, she joined a polytechnic institution in the UK with the help of her sponsors the British Council. It was during her first year at the college that she discovered her love for computer science.
She then decided to change her major and asked her sponsors to allow her to change to computer science.
“They allowed me to change courses on condition that I did exceedingly well in the computer science exam,” she recalls.
She placed third in the exam behind two students who had studied computer science in high school. She then was allowed to change her course.
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Her career
After finishing her first Degree, A Bachelor of Science in Combined Sciences, Dr. Getao returned to Kenya where she started working for the International Research in Agroforestry now called the World Agroforestry Centre as an analyst/programmer.
After her contract ended, she then managed to join Shell Global and later moved on to the University of Nairobi where she worked for over 20 years.
This is when she discovered her love for teaching. She began her career at UoN as a Tutorial Fellow rising through the ranks to become a director, School of Computing and Informatics, a position she held for six years.
During her time at the university, Dr. Getao helped develop computer science programs in East Africa through external examination as a reviewer for Kenya’s university education regulator and accreditor CUE.
While she was teaching at UoN, she completed a Master of Science in Intelligent Knowledge-based – Systems and a PhD in Computing.
While she worked at the university the computing department was able to create projects and systems that were used by the University to improve efficiency.
In 2007 after leaving UoN, she joined NEPAD’s e-schools project, which aimed to combine education and ICT.
She was then appointed ICT Secretary-Directorate of e-Government in the office of the Presidency and Cabinet Affairs in 2010.
It was while she was there that she spearheaded the development of the ICT strategy in Kenya. Under her guidance, her team was able to launch projects such as Huduma Kenya successfully.
Other interests
Apart from ICT, she is also a writer. She authored ‘Flakes’ a weekly column in the newspaper that she began writing in 1999 and ran until June 2016.
“Getting a PhD in Computing and having the second longest running column in the papers are some of my proudest accomplishments,” says Dr. Getao.
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Awards & Merits
She has received many awards throughout her career such as;
University of Nairobi Staff Merit Award 2001,
ICT Hall of Fame Inductee (Education) 2007,
Computer Society of Kenya Hall of Fame Inductee 2011,
Elder of the Burning Spear (EBP) in 2012
Her Advice to young professionals
“When looking for a role model, don’t focus on the gender of the person: instead look for the good qualities you can emulate from them.”
“Corruption is like a rut we are constantly stuck in. It is similar to lining a toilet with gold – it is not beneficial to us.”
“Not using your own God-given gifts is like placing a battery on a shelf hence not allowing it to realize its potential and worth.”
Source: My Gov