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| Bashir |
Kaduna ICT
Hub institutes creativity festival for students
By
Abdulsalam Mahmud
Kaduna state
ICT Hub (KADICT Hub), in partnership with the state ministry of education, has
instituted an annual Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and
creativity festival.
The co-founder
and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Hub, Engr Yusuf Bashir, who spoke
during a telephone interview with journalists, said the annual festival was
instituted to spur innovation in students and the general public.
“We
have also formed strategic partnerships with all the major higher institutions
in Kaduna State to transform innovative ideas into products or companies. The
STEM and Creativity Festival, together with the Hackathons are organized for
talented youths to peak their interest in ICT,” Bashir said.
The ICT
expert pointed out that the ‘Campus Blockchain Hackathon’, which their Hub
organised sometimes in 2019, was an initiative of the Nigerian Blockchain
Alliance (NBA), a sub-division of Cryptography Development Initiative in
Nigeria (CDIN).
“The
reason why the KADICT Hub organized a Campus Blockchain Hackathon was to spur
innovation by exceptionally-gifted youths and talented Nigerian students in the
Blockchain space,” he explained.
The
hackathon, Bashir said, was organised to engage the academic community on the importance
of Blockchain Technology, its relevant use cases, and more specific, its
adoption for enterprising solutions.
“We are
very active in the Blockchain ecosystem globally. For example our platform www.bitcertify.io provides training and online job
placement services for the cryptocurrency sector.
“Our
world is undergoing a massive technological transformation. Blockchain is a
major technological invention of the last decade that creates unprecedented
opportunities to re-think the way the world operates and interacts.”
While
speaking further during the interview, Bashir, noted that KADICT Hub was
established because of the need to institute a culture of innovation through
Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
He said by
training and utilising their trained students to implement various ICT
projects, they promote local content.
“For
instance, in our first year, I brought in many experts from the United States
and other parts of the world to impart lucrative ICT skills in our youths here
in Kaduna. But now, the training is all done by the trainers, we trained
locally.”
He disclosed
that KADICT Hub had trained over 10,000 Kaduna state residents in the last
three years, adding that their Hub also secured funding to train one million
persons over the next four years, while providing online jobs for no fewer than
100,000 residents.
Bashir, who
is also the co-founder of Africa Blockchain Lab, further explained that their
KADICT Hub has automated the vehicle registration process for the Kaduna state
government, and is working towards generating more revenue for the state
government.
“The
Kaduna State Government has done an excellent job in providing the enabling
environment for the ICT sector to thrive. For example, the state government has
waived the Right of Way charges (RoW). So, this will significantly lower the
cost of data in Kaduna State, therefore leading to more residents having access
to innovations in the fields of science and technology.”