The Art of Technology (AOT) 4.0 Gala and Awards Night held on December 9, 2022 was filled with glitz, glamour and fun. It was a time to celebrate and recognize efforts of individuals, groups and businesses that has contributed significantly not only in bringing the Smarter Lagos to reality and sustaining it; but also expanding and improving the Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
Mr Olatunbosun Alake, SA, Innovation, Lagos State , revealed that from AOT 1.0 held in 2019, “we had the AOT Lagos State innovation and Technology Masterplan and has many strategic planss like infrastructure, funding, talents, advocacy and communication diversity and inclusion policy and data access”.
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(L-R) Ola Williams, Microsoft, Country Director, Nigeria and Ghana and Hakeem Fahm (Commissioner for Science and Technology, Lagos State)
“For the past few days we
have been dealing with specific one, which is the bedrock on top of all other
plans: Talent. Without talent this ecosystem cannot grow or produce value… talent has been one of the ecosystem that acts as
bridge between government and policymakers”.
He also disclosed that the rising incident of
tech talents leaving for abroad amid global economic squeeze is a major
challenge for businesses seeking for these specialized skills in the country
and that’s why a special panel, Retaining Talents: Reversing Japa, was formed
to deliberate on the issue.
“…Three out of five ICT
engineers are planning to leave or already left Nigeria and to reverse this
trend we are gathered here tonight to recognize not just immediate light in the
ecosystem but also the hidden gems, the talents who are leveraging on the
values we have in Lagos, building on entities and creating value not only in
Nigeria but across the African Continent.”
This set the ball rolling
for the AOT Award categories which include Startup of the Year won by Dataleum;
Customer Service Award clinched by Pave; Social Impact Award won by The Tony
Elumelu Foundation; Best Startup ─ Healthcare: Emergency Response Africa; Best
Startup ─ Fintech: Tribapay; Best Startup ─ Agrictech and others.
Individuals like Jadesola
Adedeji, who won N5 Million for developing STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) for teacher training for early education to
primary school teachers, training them on Science Technology Engineering
Concept of teaching which involves more hands on, project based, learning and
teaching. Damian Isaac Ezirim, founder, Teens Can Code also won N5 million, Tolulope Olukotun of Think Bikes
Limited was awarded N5 million among other winners.
The high point of the
evening was the signing of partnership between the Lagos State government and
Microsoft to drive workloads and digitize data points and protect digital
assets. On hand to sign the partnership agreement is Ola Williams, Country
Director, Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana. She said that Microsoft has already
signed an agreement with federal agreement to train five million Nigerians and
empower them with digital skills but the bulk of the people will come from
Lagos given its position as the melting
pot of the nation.
Lagos State Talent
Acceleration Masterplan and Fund was also unveiled at the event by Olatunbosun
Alake.
#DemolaSanyaolu #OluchiUgboaja #LagosStateGovernment
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