At the 1st Investment Conference and Trade Fair on Indigenous Knowledge Intellectual Assets 2026 (#IKIA2026), Dr. Melissa Omino presented on the intersection of AI, IP and indigenous knowledge in Kenya, examining how these three systems interact and what it means to build responsible, viable ventures at their convergence.

Her presentation was around a central question: whether the possibility of using AI to curate and preserve indigenous knowledge is sufficient justification for doing so.

• The core issue is not whether AI should engage with indigenous knowledge, but how that engagement is governed. Curation is not preservation, and capturing data does not mean knowledge is safeguarded.

• Consent must be layered and specific: consent to record does not equal consent to publish, train models, or deploy commercial AI systems.

• Indigenous knowledge in Kenya is not a free resource; it is constitutionally recognized as protected property under the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act, 2016, requiring prior informed consent and equitable benefit sharing.

The Nwulite Obodo Open Data License (NOODL) responds to this gap by providing a licensing approach designed specifically for African language datasets, addressing limitations in conventional open licenses that do not account for community-held knowledge.

Ultimately, the question is not just what can be done, but what should be done, how it should be done, and who benefits from it.

This event was hosted and organized by National Museums of Kenya and Natural Products Industry and the investment conference