Dorcas Muthoni (born 1979,

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...

) is a Kenyan entrepreneur, computer scientist and founder of OPENWORLD LTD, a

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consist ...

consulting company she started at the age of 24. Through her work as an entrepreneur and computer scientist, Muthoni seeks to see technology positively transforming the lives of the African society, governments and enterprises.

Biography

She graduated in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

from the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent univer ...

, has specialized training in wireless networks, radio-communications and strategic technology planning, among other subjects. Through her everyday work as a businesswoman and computer scientist, she seeks to see technology positively transform the life of the African society and businesses. OPENWORLD has been involved in the delivery of some most widely used Web and

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

applications in Africa, such as ARIS, an African Union reporting application used by all 54 member states; the Performance Management System for the Government of Kenya, automating performance contracting in the public sector; and OpenBusiness, a revolutionary cloud-based small- and medium-size business management tool. Muthoni is also the founder of the regional organization AfChix, a mentorship and capacity building initiative for women in computing across Africa. Since 2004, AfChix activities have included organizing annual Computing Career Conferences with a special emphasis on encouraging computing careers for young women and high school girls; continuous career development for women in technology and role-modeling for upcoming women in computing. This passion and involvement has made her a role model herself, for women and girls in the African community. Muthoni has been an Internet Society (ISOC) Fellow to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and World Bank infoDev Global Forum. In 2008, she was an Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology's Change Agent award winner and in 2009 she was selected as a Women's Forum Rising Talent, a network of highly talented women with the potential to become influential figures in the future. In 2013, she was selected as a

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Young Global Leader, a panel of distinguished leaders from around the world under the age of 40. In 2017, the

Pompeu Fabra University Pompeu Fabra University ( ca, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF, ; es, link=no, Universidad Pompeu Fabra) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. The university was created by the Autonomous Government of Ca ...

made

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

for her significant work in the promotion of engineering studies among girls in Africa, the mentoring of young people, and her social commitment in the fight against poverty. She received the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology's Change Agent award in 2008.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muthoni, Dorcas 1979 births Living people Kenyan businesspeople Kenyan women computer scientists Women founders