Ann Kingiri is the Senior Research Fellow and Programme Director, Science, Technology, Innovation and Knowledge Societies (STIKS) program. She is a policy and development researcher with a key focus on inclusive and sustainable development in Africa. Currently, Ann is also the Secretary General at AfricaLics.
Ann has worked as a public servant and regulator under the government of Kenya and as a policy researcher in a think tank/nongovernmental organisation. She has over 20 year’s public sector and think tank management and research experience. She has worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya (1993-1999), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) (1999-2010) and African Centre for Technology studies (ACTS) (2011 – Date). As a regulator and a Biosafety expert, Ann supported the development of national biosafety regulatory frameworks in East Africa as a consultant.
She has vast experience in capacity building, policy analysis with a keen interest in innovation studies and development, agriculture, renewable technologies, biotechnology, digital innovation, gender and climate change. Ann has also worked as a public servant and a regulator. She has published on various areas including governance of technologies, digital innovation, gender, renewable energy, climate change policy, and science technology and innovation among others.
Ann has served in a number of local and international technical committees providing specific technical expertise. These include the Kenyan National Biosafety Authority (NBA) appointed Biosafety expert, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Task Force on Synthetic Biology and Biodiversity Conservation. This Task Force is the first global attempt to look at the intersection of the emerging technologies of synthetic biology and their impact on biodiversity conservation. The USA National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, serving as a member in the committee on genes drive research in non-human organisms: recommendations for responsible conduct. Ann contributed to the Committee work in the area of “governing gene drive research and applications”. She has been the Secretary General of the African Network on Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics). This network endeavours to build Africa’s capacity in the specific field of innovation and economic development, both at the individual, institutional and country levels. This consequently would allow African countries to design policies suitable and responsive to their own needs, and instigate corrective measures to ensure the smooth production, dissemination and use of knowledge for economic development, including poverty alleviation.
She holds a Bsc degree in Agriculture and Msc degree in Plant Pathology both from University of Nairobi, Kenya; A Master’s degree in Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology from Mache Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy and a PhD degree from UK in Development Policy and Practice discipline focusing on governance of biotechnology as an emerging technology.
