Mary-Louise Hoffman
Royal Philips plans to establish an innovation center in Nairobi, Kenya to develop lighting, healthcare and lifestyle products for consumers across Africa.
The company aims to bring together international researchers to pursue open-innovation programs and conduct applications-based scientific and user studies at the hub, Philips said Thursday.
Dr. Maarten van Herpen will lead the technology research and development project.
“Our ambition is to create impactful innovations that matter to people and address the key challenges that confront society,” said JJ van Dongen, Philips Africa senior vice president and CEO.
“We want to tap into the city’s vibrant R&D eco-system and contribute to the process of co-creating new solutions, new business models and meaningful partnerships to provide innovations that make an impact,” van Dongen added.
The hub will be constructed to further develop and test an automated respiratory monitoring system, a community care management platform, a smokeless cooking stove and solar-powered consumer products.
