OPEN UNIVERSITY OF KENYA JOINS LANDMARK EU-FUNDED SHAPE PROJECT TO ADVANCE SMART CITY HIGHER EDUCATION IN EAST AFRICA
The Open University of Kenya (OUK) has joined a major regional and international consortium implementing the Smart City Higher Education Advancement Project (SHAPE), a transformative Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education initiative funded by the European Union. The project brings together leading universities from Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Germany, Estonia and Lithuania to strengthen higher education, research, innovation and digital transformation in support of smart and sustainable cities across East Africa.
The SHAPE project was officially launched during a consortium kick-off meeting held on 18 June 2026, bringing together partner universities to commence implementation of the three-year initiative, which has secured European Union funding amounting to €719,897. The consortium comprises Moi University and the Open University of Kenya from Kenya; Kampala International University and Makerere University from Uganda; Red Sea University and Mogadishu University from Somalia; Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg in Germany; the University of Tartu in Estonia; and Lietuvos Sveikatos Mokslu Universitetas in Lithuania. Moi University serves as the overall project coordinator.
At the Open University of Kenya, the SHAPE project is led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Elijah Omwenga as the Project Lead, with Prof. Chris Chepken, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Planning, Research and Innovation), and Prof. Kefa Chesire of the School of Business and Economics serving as Project Coordinators. Prof. Chepken also officially launched the kick-off meeting, underscoring OUK’s central role in advancing the project’s vision and implementation.
SHAPE seeks to modernize higher education and strengthen institutional capacity in smart city development, with a focus on equipping graduates and professionals with future-ready skills in Artificial Intelligence, open data, smart health, smart energy, renewable energy applications and digital transformation. Through collaboration between African and European universities, the project will support the development of new smart city curricula, establish innovation laboratories, promote virtual exchanges, organise innovation hackathons and create a sustainable EU–East Africa Smart Cities Network.
The project is also expected to deepen collaboration between academia, industry and policymakers, while helping partner institutions respond to the rapidly evolving demands of urbanisation, technology and sustainable development. By identifying smart city skills needs in East Africa and aligning academic programmes to emerging realities, SHAPE will contribute to preparing a new generation of graduates, researchers and innovators capable of addressing urban challenges through technology-driven solutions.
Speaking during the launch meeting, the overall Project Coordinator, Prof. Henry Kiriamiti of Moi University, congratulated the consortium for securing the competitive Erasmus+ grant and called for immediate and focused implementation of project activities. The consortium also reviewed governance arrangements, financial management procedures, monitoring frameworks and the development of a consortium agreement to guide implementation across all partner institutions. A dedicated project monitoring platform was introduced to support the tracking of work packages, milestones, deliverables and overall progress.
Contributors from the European partner institutions emphasised the importance of active collaboration and sustained engagement throughout the life of the project. They noted that the initiative offers significant opportunities not only for curriculum development and capacity building, but also for joint research, innovation and publication among partner universities.
For the Open University of Kenya, participation in SHAPE represents a significant milestone in the University’s growing internationalisation agenda and its commitment to leveraging digital education, research and innovation to address contemporary development challenges. As Kenya’s first fully online public university, OUK is uniquely positioned to contribute to the project’s objectives through its expertise in digital learning, technology-enabled education and flexible knowledge delivery models.
Through SHAPE, the Open University of Kenya will contribute to the development of responsive curricula, research collaboration, innovation activities and knowledge exchange initiatives that will strengthen higher education systems and support the emergence of smart, inclusive and sustainable cities in East Africa. The project further reinforces OUK’s role as a forward-looking institution committed to building strategic global partnerships and delivering transformative solutions with regional and international impact.