Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HUBiquitous (Paving the Foundation for Disruptive Technologies in Tomorrow's Digital Innovation Hubs)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-07-01 do 2024-06-30
2. The innovative capacity building training has been provided to all the selected 15 external Hubs. An dedicated program which was termed the ‘TecHub Catalyst Program’ was designed specifically to bring the 15 DIHs to a higher level of capacity in the emerging technologies of IoT and AI using the Solution Lab, Application Business Boxes and MeetHub. This included a business training that would design sustainable services following the training that they would implement in their hubs. A total of 6 new services were generated in this training with the promise of implementation by the participating DIHs.
3.The first “Talent Program” had some very good results receiving 613 applications in total. 314 applications progressed to the training and bootcamp phase following the screening across the 11 participating hubs. A total of 1837 applications were received across the 15 hubs in the TecHub Catalyst Program. 469 were successful through the screening process of the hubs and 224 completed the program and were issued with Certificates. The success of the program led the hubs to prepare and run a 2nd cohort of the same program in their hubs as part of the sustainability plan for the DIHs.
4. A new open call was launched for the accelerator program as a part of the TechHub Catalyst program. The open call was used to select the hubs. Each hub was asked to design their own accelerator program. As a part of this process, each HUB also developed two MVPs. A total of 30 products and 6 services resulted from this accelerator program.
5. The Wazilab platform is designed as a one-stop shop for DIHs looking to establish IoT training programs and certification. Its open nature makes it a sustainable asset for the project. It has the potential to connect both African regional and national ecosystems with European stakeholders. Moreover, the sustainability of Wazilab can be envisioned as a B2B process, i.e. selling the learning platform to DIHs, companies, or individual tech entrepreneurs. MeetHub on the other hand will also be enhanced and maintained beyond the project period. Each of the DIHs also prepared a plan to continue implementing the training and acceleration services beyond the project period. 3 of these DIHs have already conducted supplementary training with great success.
2. The DIHs identified value in the 2 services that HUBiquitous introduced and co-implemented with the hubs. The DIHs have developed plans to sustain these services by launching periodic training and accelerator sessions within their DIHs following the same model. This is foreseen to amplify interests in the startup ecosystem in the various countries in Africa. MeetHub will be powerful to enhance and sustain collaborations across the African and the European continent.
3. As the DIHs continue to amplify the number of trainees through their periodic training cohorts supported by the Innovation Enablers, more youth will gain the skills needed in the modern Industry. Additional to this, they will have a Certificate of Achievement and their profile of knowledge accessible through the platform. This will be attractive for current hiring managers in the technological space thus improving their potential for employment. Wazilab already has 1500 users. As more users access the platform and gain the value, more youths will eventually be eligible for employment.
4. Two fundamental programs proposed as services to the DIHs, The IoT certification course ‘Training as a service’ and the Tech-acceleration program ‘Prototyping as a service’ are flagship services to enhance the entrepreneurial and innovation skills amongst the ICT professionals and start-ups in Africa. The IoT Certification Course includes business training which is tailored for technical personnel. The Tech-acceleration program applies the innovative Application Business Box which generally sparks innovation and accelerates the development of Minimum Viable Products. As the DIHs roll out their periodic training and acceleration services, more ICT professionals and startups will be exposed to the services.
5. The innovation enablers will continue to be supported and maintained beyond the project period. The DIHs have already begun implementing their sustainability plan of periodic implementation of services resulting from the project. The consortium will continue to interact will the DIHs during this period by interfacing the services and tools (Solution Lab, Application Business Box, MeetHub) to their needs.