Kenyans who want to go down memory lane of their country from the comfort of their homes will soon be able to do so by browsing photographs and audio clips of Kenya’s history.
Kenya News Agency (KNA) holds more than 500 thousand copies of images and audio clips that are now being digitized. The ICT Authority and KNA are in the process of digitizing the photo library collection dating back to 1936 documenting Kenyan life through the decades.
“The ICT Authority is working with KNA to digitize all the images, by December 2015.We toured the digitization center recently and found the team busy sorting out the heaps of photographs in preparation for the task of digitizing.”
“Easy access to these historical photos will especially benefit the creative industry and researchers. From fashion designers to filmmakers–access to visual history of Kenya will serve to inspire and enrich their creations. For personal family research or professional cultural research, the online catalogue will be an invaluable reference source,” said ICT Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Victor Kyalo.
Kenya News Agency (KNA) was established on December 5th 1963, a week to Kenya’s Independence. It specializes in news gathering across the country and news dissemination for local and international news agencies. KNA provides the most widespread news network in the East African region. Its photographic library was established twenty years earlier, in the early 1940s.
The project is expected to grow revenue for KNA, Increase the visibility of KNA assets, Improve KNA staff ability to fulfil requests for information and Archive standard secure physical storage for KNA multi-media assets.
Over the years, the Agency has documented all the key events in Kenya—from the emergency days to independence, the growth of Kenya from a newly independent country to its modernization. As of 2014, KNA has managed to use its limited resources to scan approximately 6,000 images out of a collection of approximately 500,000 photos.
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