EXPERTS UNDERLINE ROLE OF DIGITAL, ALLIED TECHNOLOGIES FOR STARTUPS PROGRESS

They urged the government to give the necessary support to formation of TechHubs that will roll out the desired technologies.

They made the remarks here on Wednesday during an ongoing training workshop under a project funded by the European Union (EU).

HUBiquitous, is a 42-month project being implemented in 13 African countries including Tanzania and others in East Africa. It aims at creating a sustainable and impactful ecosystem of technology hubs in Africa with a special focus on IoT and related technologies.

The 100,000 Euro project has the ambition to increase the technology level and capacity building of local TechHubs in African countries.

TechHubs that will be created across selected countries will form the foundation of the provision of cutting-edge solutions for Africa’s emerging issues.

Speaking to journalists as the five-day training entered its second day in Arusha, the experts urged the governments to embrace new technologies.

A senior lecturer with the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) Dr Omar Haji Kombo said state-of-art technologies were needed to stimulate socio-economic development.

“We need to embrace technologies in order to stimulate socio-economic development as well as economic growth,” he said.

Dr Kombo, who is the head of computing science and ICT at the state-owned academic institution, is one of the trainers hired under the project.

Dr Erasto Mlyuka, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of DTBi, a facility under the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) outlined what was needed to spur technology development in Africa.

These include capacity building for the experts, upgrading of technology infrastructure, good coordination among stakeholders, among others.

According to him, the training has attracted 34 young technology experts representing 15 TechHubs in 13 African countries.

He added that DTBi is the focal TechHub for Tanzania in rolling out the IoT and related technologies in the country.

 DTBi operates as a company with a focus on supporting digital ventures with COSTECH serving as its guarantor,

Within Tanzania, the incubator (DTBi) is working with local governments to establish similar tech hubs at district level.

Since 2017, DTBi has collaborated with mobile operators like Airtel to train hundreds of active and aspiring entrepreneurs in information technology.

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