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.”