Digitalization Initiatives and the Expansion of the Digital Space for Startups in Kenya - a Case of the Norad-funded Digital Launchpad Project

Abstract

As businesses and operations get more digitalized across sectors, industries and markets, enterprises are increasingly recognizing the need to use and expand their reach in the digital realm. Consequently, enterprises seek to identify and apply a range of strategies or tactics to exploit the opportunities the internet and digitization presents. SMEs face particular barriers in the digital journey, ostensibly because of their financial incapacity and other challenges. Nonetheless, agency and individual stakeholders have designed and implemented projects and programs to stir the digitization journey in the sector. The present researcher studied the influence of digitalization initiatives on the expansion of the digital space for startups in the Kenya. The variables of the study were the various digitalization initiatives that startups under the NORAD-funded project use, namely Google Business Profiles (GBPs), social media, digital skills training and websites. The research targeted startup SMEs currently implementing these initiatives under the NORAD-funded digital launchpad project. The dependent variable of the study was the expansion of the digital space for the startup SMEs in the Kenya. The study used the descriptive correlational survey design to establish the relationship between the selected digitalization initiatives and digital space of startups in Kenya. This choice was backed by the appropriateness of the design for studies seeking to establish the direction and magnitude of the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable. The target population for the study were the stakeholders in the 100 startup SMES under the NORAD-funded digital launchpad project in Kenya. The researcher used structured questionnaire to collect primary data from the purposively sampled respondents, including investors, managers, employees and users or consumers of the various digitalization projects by the target startups. The data was analyzed using correlational and regression analysis to determine the direction and magnitude of the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The study established positive and statistically significant relationship between GBPs initiatives, social media initiatives, website initiatives and digital skills training initiatives with the expansion of digital space for the startup SMEs under the NORAD-funded digital launchpad project in Kenya. Thus, it is recommended, startup SMEs across sectors, industries and economies should consider and implement a range of digitalization initiatives to maximally utilize the opportunities in the digital space. In fact, further and future research should target the effect or importance of other potential digitalization initiatives or strategies on the expansion and effectiveness of enterprises’ digital space. Finally, research of this nature should spread to other segments of the economy or different types of enterprises to help in them embrace and integrate with the present and future trends in digitization and digital shifts