On December 13, 2022, the GMES and Africa Incubator/Accelerator (GAIA) initiative was launched at El Jadida, Morocco. The goal of this initiative is to promote technological entrepreneurship among young people in Africa. The initiative is targeted at young people in urban and rural communities who will receive guidance in developing innovative solutions using earth observation data and open-source tools. The ultimate aim is to create viable start-ups capable of addressing some of the environmental challenges confronting the continent.
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| Group Picture of the Launch of GAIA |
The Vice-President of the University of Chouaib Doukkali (UCD), Prof. Mohamed Sahabi was the special guest of honour. Representatives from the employment agency, Agence Nationale de Promotion de l'Emploi et des Compétences (ANAPEC), the Agence Nationale des Ports (ANP), Science Faculty and graduate students were also in attendance. The Coordinator of the Marine and Coastal Areas Management in North and West Africa (MarCNoWA), Dr. Kwame Adu Agyekum, and some of his technical team were present at the ceremony.
In 2023, GAIA will set up 3 nodes along the coast of Ghana where interested youth will be given the opportunity to learn about the internet of things (IoT). The nodes will be designed as informal “hang-out” units to give more freedom for innovation. Autodidactic and peer-to-peer learning will be encouraged. This strategy will be expanded to the whole of Africa with the support of the GMES and Africa Programme.
The philosophy of GAIA is to remove the monotony of formal learning and give more freedom to student-directed learning. For starters, there is nothing like examinations, teaching hours, and heavy instructions from trainers. Together with the facilitators, the student will design the learning strategy to achieve personal objectives.
GAIA has set up an incubator/accelerator on a 100 acres facility at the Gomoa West District to support all the nodes. A well-equipped mobile classroom will spend time at each node to engage the students in diverse IoT projects.
University of Ghana Consortium of GMES and Africa launched the GAIA initiative in UCD on the basis of the latter’s collaboration with ANAPEC in incubating incubate students projects as part of the academic programme.
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| A group picture of the MarCNoWA team with the President of the University of Chouaib Doukkali, Prof. Yahia Boughaleb, and Vice President Prof. Mohamed Sahabi |
The GAIA for Youth Initiative is a collaboration between the University of Ghana consortium of GMES and Africa Project and Edenway Foundation, an NGO registered in Ghana. The Foundation is dedicated to providing the youth with access to technology training by utilizing the strength of open-source tools and methods for creative solutions to solve day-to-day problems.
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Prof. George Wiafe, the Coordinator of GAIA for
Youth |
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