Innovation hubs should be open all the time. Not just during conventional hours, not just during weekdays – all the time. Period. The very notion of restricting access to these intellectual powerhouses to standard business hours fundamentally contradicts their purpose.
Take the Makerere UNIPOD Project or the Makerere Library itself. They operate like a regular office: open 9-5, closed weekends, shut down during holidays. This is precisely what we need to fight against. This approach isn't just misguided – it's actively harmful to the spirit of innovation.
Think about it: When do breakthrough moments happen? When does creativity strike? Innovation doesn't punch a timecard. It doesn't take holidays off. It doesn't wait for Monday morning.
Consider the reality of our most passionate innovators. They're often juggling day jobs, studies, family commitments. Their only free time – their true thinking time – comes during those "off hours" that traditional institutions consider closed. These are the precious moments when they can finally explore their ideas freely, dive deep into their projects, and push the boundaries of what's possible.
During weekends, during holidays, during those quiet hours when the world slows down – that's when many minds are most alive with possibility. That's precisely when our innovation hubs should be humming with activity, serving as beacons for intellectual exploration.
These spaces should be the buzzing epicenters of intellectual activity – not just during prescribed hours, but round the clock. They should be the place where the midnight inventor finds their workshop, where the weekend warrior builds their prototype, where the early-morning dreamer sketches their next big idea.
The message to institutions running innovation hubs needs to be crystal clear: If you're not open 24/7, you're not truly committed to innovation. This isn't just a suggestion – it should be a standard. A requirement. The bare minimum for any space that dares to call itself an innovation hub.
Because innovation doesn't sleep. Neither should its home.
Bbumba,
22nd December 2024