Akeredolu Sees SAP’s Code Training Boosting Infotech Development
The Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who said this at a two-day Train-the-Trainer hands-on workshop organised by SAP in partnership with the state, added that the initiative will help to bridge the continent-wide digital divide, as well as being a significant launch pad for youth empowerment in the digital era.
Speaking through his Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, he, appreciated SAP and ACW key and primary partners, (UNESCO YouthMobile, the Cape Town Science Centre, the Galway Education Centre, and Google) for their vision of every African child empowered though ICT.
The Governor considered the workshop as relevant as the time had come for governments and private sector entities to work together to promote digital access, “improve Information and Communications Technology skills and create opportunities for youths in our ever-competitive and dynamic world.”
The TTT was aimed at imparting coding skills to secondary school teachers across the three senatorial districts in the state, in the run up to Africa Code Week 2017, which will take place from October 18 to 25 across 35 countries.
He said: “It is also gratifying to note that SAP shares this philosophy that we need to join forces to bridge the digital skills and gender gap continent-wide. I am therefore very happy that SAP is deploying their skilled volunteers to train teachers in Ondo State who, will in turn, train the next generation of the ICT savvy youths.”Akeredolu said the government desired that the people of Ondo State participated actively in the new economy, and benefitted from the opportunities it presents.
“To facilitate this, the government is championing many ICT initiatives such as the planned establishment of tech hubs in each of the three senatorial districts, to make governance more effective and efficient,” he noted.
He said: “This will provide an enabling environment for different categories of youths and ICT enthusiasts to acquire and develop different skills in the ICT, which can be deployed for economic gains as ‘techpreneurs’.”
“The ICT has become an indispensable and most effective platform for rapid and sustainable development in the 21st Century. It provides multiple economic and employment opportunities to both urban and rural development, increases productivity, offers easier and cheaper access to financial, educational and health services and generally enables society to function more efficiently.”
Speaking further on ACW 2017, the Director, Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP and Africa Code Week Global Lead, Claire Gillissen-Duval, said: “Leveraging freely accessible teaching materials like Scratch, ACW Train-the-Trainer workshops provide a sound, scalable structure for inter-group knowledge sharing, unlocking people’s potential and desire to serve as resources for each other.“In the knowledge sharing age we live in, this is the key to scaling digital literacy initiatives in a sustainable way, across all communities.”
