By CTW Team

USIU-Africa and leading telecommunications giant, Safaricom PLC, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see both organizations carry out mutually-beneficial knowledge transfers, trainings, and capacity building initiatives in telecommunications.

The MoU will see both institutions jointly work together to build capacity through undertaking joint career fairs, having symbiotic support in knowledge gathering and dissemination, carrying out joint CSR programs, youth upskilling, among others.

During the signing of the MoU, the Dean of the School of Science and Technology, Prof. Valerie Adema noted that the partnership will see both USIU-Africa and Safaricom leverage each other’s resources, knowledge base and unique perspectives to innovatively strengthen the rapidly expanding technological field in the country.

“It has been said severally that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly brought about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is very technology-driven. This partnership will position both institutions as resource centres for all things technology,” she said.

“Our students will now have the opportunity to get in to the technology industry from the ground up as they complete their studies, by being part of several initiatives, including product development, big data analytics, among others,” she added.

Speaking to CTW, one of the lead developers of the Memorandum, Dr. Collins Oduor, noted that the MoU would strengthen the practical aspect of the education offered by the School of Science and Technology.

“One of the critical aspects of the MoU is the component of youth upskilling, where we will work jointly with Safaricom to host hackathons, digital competency garages, offer short term courses on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, data visualization and analytics, provision of funding for startups, among other initiatives that will complement the current course offering the School. By the time our students will be graduating, they will have a practical feel of what the industry is about,” he said.

“The MOU will also be critical in strengthening our research output as a School, as it will also entail the development of a Safaricom AI and Data Analytics Research Lab at USIU-Africa which will be used in the research of areas of topical interest to both parties,” he noted.