Techies need to show what they can do

South Africa leads in most of the technology challenges; the students participate in huge numbers and give the working techies a run for their experience.

In Kenya, most public universities' computer science students are stuck in the iron age and are rarely heard or seen jostling for spaces in the techie events and competitions. There have been a number of competitions going on -- Facebook garage, ODesk.com, and now the BlackBerry developers garage.

It is one thing to have the competitions, but it can also be disappointing if people do not take advantage of the opportunities. You never know: One can develop an application for a global audience, and that may be the start of a good career.

As Maina put it in the invitation, Kenyans abroad are inspiring; they are working in the most technologically challenging positions in Google, Mozilla, among other high flying jobs.

I guess with these kinds of opportunities, no one can claim to be left out. Well, people will always give excuses.