Google to Power DS-IHUB Innovation Hackathon 2016

Emma Okonji

Moving forward from a community of emotional achievers to knowledge and innovation builders, Google West Africa has come forward with a significant corporate social responsibility (CSR) model to power the Delta State Innovation Hub (DS-IHUB) initiative.

To this end, Google is deploying expert group of developers in her arsenal to deliver a world-class experience developers event of Saturday 19th November, 2016 – as an accelerator to the upcoming open innovation hackathon – 2016 in Asaba, Delta State.

The planned innovation hackathon aims to engage Nigerian youths on the challenges of sustainable development goals of the United Nations and the role of information technology in resolving the issues therein – from perspectives of the critical needs and solutions for Africa/Nigeria.
communities.

Google will power the communities within the South-south, which is seen as a fantastic platform for developers to grow by learning, sharing, and connecting with each other. Google Developer Groups (GDGs) are independent technical communities of developers who are interested in Google’s developer technology.

Director General, DS-IHUB, Chris Uwaje, said “We will extend support to broader technical communities via the “Together with Google Developers” programme. We had love to see GDG Asaba incubated and meeting regularly at DS-IHUB. The pulse of a number of city- or institution-based GDGs currently active in Nigeria can be viewed here.”

Women Techmakers, another empowerment platform, is the Google’s Women Techmakers (WTM) programme that provides visibility, community, and resources for women in technology. From 2014 to present, WTM is continually launching global scalable initiatives and piloting new programs to support and empower women in the industry.

“At Google, women are encouraged to engage in technology and to join WTM Membership to access curated resources to support their career. Membership empowers women in their careers by providing access to curated resources and events, as well as information and tools from Google, our partners, and the global tech ecosystem,” Uwaje said.

Google Developer Experts is a global network of experienced developers of Google and Open Technologies who distinguish themselves by mentoring developers, supporting local technical communities, frequently speaking at conferences as well as sharing their passion and experience by publishing videos, tutorials and writing code samples.

It has a startup programme called the Google Developers Launchpad that is designed to deliver in-person mentorship to startups as well as the technology, events, online resources and community necessary to launch and scale successful apps.

The DS-Hackathon 2016 is designed to host 300 teams from all walks of life. Total participants and audience expected at the three day event is about 3,000, and it is scheduled for 1-3 December, 2016, in Asaba, Delta State.

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