It's time for disciplined forces to recruit esports stars

It is no secret that our disciplined forces are littered with most of our top performing sports icons.

Ferdinand Omanyala (athletics), Jeffrey Olouch (rugby), Harun Shakava (football) and Carolyne Sirengo (volleyball) are among the recent recruits.

Their extraordinary athletic ability and discipline have been among the major considerations for tapping into the sports icons.

However, as the world is moving digital, so is security. Now more than ever, digital know-how is needed in our disciplined forces.

This is why I make a case for our esports stars (gamers) to be considered for recruitment into our disciplined forces.

The digital know-how that gamers possess could be of great use. The drone for example, derives its design and functioning from the video gaming joysticks which are the basic tools of trade for gamers. They therefore will be easier to train on how to apply those skills for our security.

Secondly, research shows that top gamers have a reaction speed of 100-150 milliseconds in their operation of electronic devices as compared to the 200 to 300 milliseconds of the average human being, this could be key in a combat situation that requires operation of electronic devices.

Also, playing most of their competitions online has also exposed them to the threat of cyber security and creative ways of combating it in securing their online micro transactions and competitive accounts as they are always targeted by hackers.

These skills can help anti-banking fraud units and the overall communication and information storage systems.

Gamers have proven to be active and multi-talented. Shirley Adema, who captained the esports Kenya team to the 2022 Global Esports Games, also plays for Kenyatta University basketball team.

Shantel Wanjiru, who represented Kenya at the Commonwealth Esports Championship in Birmingham, is also a talented violinist and dancer while Elias Stylz is an active footballer.

It takes commitment to a vigorous exercise schedule in order to cope with moving their wrists and sitting for long hours.

The World Economic Forum reveals that there is a need to re-skill at least 50 percent of the current global labour market to prepare them for division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms.

It is therefore important for our disciplined forces to start tapping into this rich digital savvy talent pool found in esports.

Ronny Lusigi is the CEO, IndexG Esports