Kennedy Chinedu Okafor is a research Professor and UK Exceptional Talent in Digital Systems and Computing, endorsed by the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, USA, and holds a PhD in Cloud Computing and Networked Robotics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he received the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Award as the best-graduating PhD candidate from the Faculty of Engineering in 2017.
Kennedy began his professional career in 2006 as an intern R&D Engineer at the Electronic Development Institute (formerly Centre for Adaptation of Technology—CAT), under the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI-FMST), Nigeria. From 2006 to 2014, he led multiple innovations in embedded systems, mechatronics, and industrial automation supported by the IEEE, World Bank, WPI-USA, Cisco, IBM, NI, and Tetfund Nigeria.
He later joined the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) as a lecturer and research programme chair, where he facilitated a strategic partnership between National Instruments (Texas, USA) and FUTO. This collaboration led to the successful equipping of the university’s Mechatronics Laboratory through certification support and technical training initiatives.
Kennedy has held several international research appointments. He served as a research fellow at Simon Fraser University, Canada, focusing on intelligent cyber-physical systems, and in 2021, he was appointed Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2022, he received a postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College London, where he also completed a Mini-MBA in Executive Data Science and later held a research fellowship at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He equally serves as a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Chichester’s Centre for Future Technologies.
From 2022 to 2024, Kennedy contributed to the UK’s £318 billion Natural Capital (Woodland) Asset Valuation project and related natural capital accounting systems, valued at over £1.7 trillion, while working as a data scientist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS). His work supported the development of the UK’s long-term environmental asset strategies and digital modelling frameworks.
He currently serves as a technology advisor to the UK government, with a focus on emerging digital technologies and the ecosystems of Strategic Market Status (SMS) firms such as Apple, Google, AWS, and Microsoft. Kennedy is a certified AWS Solutions Architect and AWS DevOps Professional, and he holds over 32+ numerous additional technical certifications. He has secured and led over 30 research grants and professional projects. Kennedy has organised and chaired more than 50 IEEE events across Africa and beyond, including AI-Cities, IEEE SmartGridComm, IEEE Nigercon, IEEE ICAST, IEEE PowerAfrica, IEEE BigData Africa, IEEE MAC, and ITED. He has delivered over 50 invited talks, including keynotes, tutorials, and academic seminars across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
His research outputs include:
- 3 university textbooks
- 2+ monographs
- 5+ book chapters
- Over 150 peer-reviewed publications indexed in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science
- More than 450 peer reviews
- Over 400 editorial assignments
He serves on the editorial review boards of leading journals published by IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, and IGI Global. His global collaborations span Cisco Systems (USA), AWS Cloud, National Instruments (USA), and the Smart Power and Energy Systems Research Group (SPESRG) at the University of Johannesburg.
Kennedy is a COREN-certified engineer, a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (USA). He is a Fellow, member Board of Trustees, and Executive Secretary of the Association of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning of Nigeria (AAIMLON). He is the Director of the IEEE Skillup Hub project, powered by IEEE Region 8 (Africa, Middle East, and Europe).
