Career Imagination Program

The blog is long overdue. Considering the event I am describing took place almost three weeks ago. Most of my Sunday mornings are spent attending and church (via TV) and watching NBS TV, which has an exciting new show called the MixUp. 

It features two gorgeous hosts who tackle a wide range of issues but with a focus on young people. 

It is this same show that was talking about rather interesting event that was talking place that week that was going to be about technology, design and animation. The event was designed to take place right at the start of holiday season. It was slated for about tree days of that week. What got my interest was the animation part as well as the climax of the week which would be a training session for those who want to learn how to operate simple drones. 

The ride to w venue was just as interesting. I had the privileges of sharing a good part of the public transport system with some bubbling yuan people who filled the Taxi with a language only decipherable by Computer Scientists. And yes a healthy mix of expletives. 

I still find it very hard committing to events before hand and so it was easier to just wait until the opportunity came. That week a window opened up and I chose to take it. The event was held at Kitante Primary School.

I was not there long enough to attend but managed to speak to one of the representatives with whom I was also able to trade contacts. 

From that I saw, the event had a reasonable attendance with plenty of advertising from additional partners. They deal with robotics, animation, coding, graphics and video editing. They focus on school and teenage centers helping young people to begin to think about future careers in these specific areas. 

A simple online search will lead you to a well designed website that will supply you with a host of valuable information. (WWW.cipafrica.org)

The Coe values of this groups are:

Integrity, honesty and excellence as well as a very strong belief in young people. 

The objectives of this group are:

1. To create a critical mass of skilled young people

2. To advocate for a more skilled based education 

3. To provide training opportunities for young people

4. To become a hub of Information for youth regarding employment opportunities

To achieve these goals the program focuses on four major areas:

A) Hands on skills with very practical small business projects that can be started at low manageable costs. 

B) ICT knowledge 

C) Environmental awareness 

D) Personal development with specifics like leadership, management, communication and much more. 

Partnership with international groups (above).

Additionally there are opportunities for those who have made some headway to volunteer and take part in a transfer of skills. You will also find a refreshing link with Barklays Bank (readytowork.barklays.com) Ready to Work. Their program enhances this one by identifying four areas of interest. Work, Entrepreneurship, Money and People skills. 

The program was co-started by Kato Jonan a few years back and had continued to invest in young people as well as create partners with other international groups. 

YouTube Video with co-founder (above).

Innovation Village Uganda

It's taken some time since my visit to innovation village. As you are probably aware I run a blog that covers innovation hubs in the city with a view of identifying suitable models that can be replicated and used by small business people. 

This hub is located in Ntinda (opposite St. Luke's church) on a busy road that leads to Nakawa-a local industrial center also connecting Bukoto and Kamwokya-probably famous for its NGOs and technology related businesses. 

Carry out a search online and you will find other international innovation hubs in Italy, Baltimore, Maryland and also one in California Polytechnic Pomona (a city where I spent a significant amount of my time in the U.S working and learning alongside young people of the faith from varied backgrounds). 

My attention was drawn to the innovation hub after some work that i did with the RAN labs in Kololo (mainly social media coverage). These events were covered under what we described as two challenges on two floors. The day was spent designing and creating solutions using GIS on the second floor as well as another competition which took place between high schools and higher education institutions. 

While my primary focus has been on some of the original hubs, a chance meeting with a vibrant young mentor at RAN labs helped open my eyes to a host of other innovation hubs in the city. 

So here is what I have distilled from that visit and conversation with the PR lead Whitney as well as from some Information gathered from social media. 

Innovation village has set itself up as the destination for the NEXT BIG IDEAS. They are therefore focusing on:

Fintech

Climate

Agriculture

Health-health meet-ups

Diversity-a focus on women with coding for girls. 

Education 

Media

The thing you notice most when you arrive is the amount of work that has gone into creating a space that makes you comfortable. There is snack center with coffee, tea and a host of other drinks. There are well designed paintings that cover the walls as well as some very well designed articles of furniture. The lady at the front desk was bubbling with life. 

The focus areas were good because they personally represented some of the major themes in most competitions and so they should form the core of the basic hub at least if it wishes to engage with international players with the view of participating and winning these events. While we recognize that organizations ought to be created to function beyond competitions, these challenges are often useful in testing and evaluating design skills of students. 

The recognition of the various stages that small businesses go through is also appreciated. The seed stage, the growth stage and harvest. A place where businesses can be evaluated and built is therefore quite welcome. 

To this end, there are accelerator clinics and mentorship packages that are designed depending on where the business stands. 

The existence of a complete TV (IDEA TV) channel for the benefit of innovators is also great. There are often a large number of events that take place in the city. Being there for all of them is now a possibility at least it is here. There was an idea cafe on the 16th of September-videos about the Internet of things and other discussion that were held are available on the innovation village uganda Facebook site. A health meet-up is planned for the 24th of September. 

The closest I ever got to this was with Mara (located at Ham Towers opposite the main gate of Makerere University). They provided a link to a live stream for people to view an event that was held a few years back. 

I was also glad to hear that the people here were working on making sure that young people that had previously participated in competitions were being absorbed or at least given a chance to stay in the mix. This was a major concern of mine after the exit of orange from the Ugandan market even if MTN to some extent has attempted to fill the gap. To to end I am working towards creating a database of local application solution providers similar to what ThoughtWorks does with its TechRadar. 

I also got a chance to some insights into business practice, and the importance of values for growth and sustainability of local businesses. 

An intense and very well spent day.