Konza City Wins Global Smart Gigacity Award in Vienna
By Peace Muthoka
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s Konza Technopolis has won the 2026 Smart Gigacity Excellence Award at the World Broadband Association (WBBA) Broadband Excellence Awards in Vienna, Austria, in recognition of its use of digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and cloud computing in urban development.
The award was announced on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at VIECON in Vienna, where Kenya’s entry was selected from an international shortlist of telecommunications operators and government ministries.
The recognition places Konza Technopolis, a flagship project under Kenya’s Vision 2030 development agenda, among the initiatives gaining international attention for integrating high-capacity broadband connectivity with digital public infrastructure and smart-city services.
The award was received by Kenya’s Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission in Vienna, Valerie Rugene, on behalf of Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy Eng. John Tanui, the Government and the people of Kenya.
Developed by the Technopolis Development Authority (TDA), Konza is designed to combine connectivity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to support city operations and service delivery to residents and businesses. The government says the project is intended to provide a model for technology-enabled urban development in Africa.
At the centre of the development is a 79-kilometre fibre-optic backbone connecting businesses, institutions and homes. Public Wi-Fi and 141 smart poles equipped with CCTV cameras and environmental sensors feed information into the city’s Intelligent Operations Centre, enabling real-time monitoring and quicker responses to incidents.
The centre brings together 600 cameras and 12 Intelligent Transportation System sites under an integrated artificial intelligence system. According to the State Department for ICT and the Digital Economy, the system is designed to help operators anticipate traffic congestion, incidents and service disruptions before they occur.
Konza’s infrastructure also includes smart drainage, a wastewater reclamation facility and an automated underground waste-collection system. The wastewater facility recycles up to 90 per cent of treated water, while the waste system transports about 40 tonnes of waste daily through a 14.8-kilometre pipeline, eliminating the need for collection trucks along the system’s route.
The city’s energy supply is supported by Konza Smart Energy, which operates a 120-megawatt smart substation with a reported reliability rate of 99.9 per cent.
Digital infrastructure is another major component of the project. The Konza National Data Centre provides cloud computing and hosting services to government agencies and local businesses. The facility, described in the release as meeting Uptime Institute Tier III design-and-construction certification standards, hosts more than 100 public and private institutions.
Konza is also positioning itself as a centre for education, research and innovation. The Open University of Kenya, the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Riara University are among the institutions linking education and research with enterprise development. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 affordable homes are under construction.
Speaking after receiving the award, Rugene conveyed Tanui’s appreciation to the WBBA and its judging panel, while acknowledging President William Ruto, Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy William Kabogo Gitau, the Technopolis Development Authority and the partners, engineers and innovators involved in the project.
“Kenya accepts this honour not as the completion of Konza’s journey, but as a call to accelerate it and to share a practical, replicable model with cities across Africa,” Rugene said.
She invited international partners to work with Kenya in developing cities that are intelligent, sustainable, inclusive and centred on people’s needs.
The government says the award will support its efforts to attract technology investment, expand data-centre capacity and strengthen Kenya’s position in global business services. It is also advancing the next phase of the Intelligent Operations Centre and a public-private partnership to expand cloud services, with plans to connect more than 300 additional public institutions to the Konza platform.
The WBBA brings together telecommunications operators, technology vendors, regulators and research institutions to promote broadband development worldwide. Its annual Broadband Excellence Awards recognise achievements in network deployment, innovation and user experience.
The State Department for ICT and the Digital Economy is implementing the government’s digital transformation agenda through expansion of the national fibre network, digitisation of public services, establishment of digital hubs and the development of digital skills and employment opportunities for young Kenyans.
