Twitter Partners Hacklab Foundation For Largest AI Hackathon In Africa

The Hacklab Foundation and the Hacklab Annual Hackathon, now the largest Hackathon in West Africa turned 5 years old in 2020.

The Hacklab Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on preparing the youth for future jobs. It achieves this through boot camps, hackathons, mentorship and coaching, internships, and job placement.

7yrs – 13yrs, supported 450+ women in tech, 800+ youth were placed in jobs and internships. people, organized 8 hackathons, 2 robotics, and coding boot camps for kids between the ages of 7yrs – 13yrs, supported 450+ women in tech, 800+ youth were placed in jobs and internships.

Through a partnership with IBM, the Foundation launched the National Digital Skills Training Program in November 2018, to reach 100,000 people by 2022.

Globally, emerging technologies are disrupting industries and the way we think about problem-solving. Technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Sensor Technology, 3D Printing, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence have the potential to act as impact amplifiers and challenging traditional approaches of going about ‘age-old problems in sectors such as agriculture, financial services, healthcare, education, water, and energy.

Africa has registered impressive economic growth over the past decade and a half, displaying remarkable resilience amid global volatility and turmoil. Time is now ripe for the continent to turn the chapter and embark on a journey towards a major economic transformation. For this, Africa needs a new economic growth model powered by the strength of the real economy, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Emerging technologies can play a critical role in helping Africa address its age-old development challenges and achieve exponential growth over the next decade.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the main driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). And while it is not a new concept – for decades computers have been programmed by humans to make decisions on available facts. But what is different now, as technology advances every day, is an evolution in machine learning.

Machines are now developing what is known as “tactic knowledge”, which is essentially how the human mind works. And this will only improve with the explosion of data.

According to the Worldwide Web Foundation, much focus has been on countries leading the AI revolution, while middle and low-income countries, such as Ghana, are being left behind. Research by McKinsey estimates that AI is contributing to a transformation of society “happening 10 times faster and at 300 times the scale” of the Industrial Revolution.