Stories by Bode Adewumi
In collaboration with partner universities in Africa and Finland, the African School of Economics (ASE) has announced the launch of Africa’s first 5G Mokki Tech Space, a network of immersive digital learning and remote work environments connected via fifth-generation mobile communication technology.
In addition to its campuses in Benin and Ivory Coast, the modular tech spaces will take the ASE’s presence to remote areas, helping local communities leapfrog access to high-technology education, remote job creation and digital entrepreneurship.
Disadvantages in access to technology are seen as the main cause of economic inequality in the world.
The satellite model of the ASE’s tech spaces can help prevent various African regions and remote areas from falling behind in, for example, the innovation and acceleration of products and services powered by Artificial Intelligence.
The 5G Mokki is a modular high-tech unit for developing software applications that require ultra-fast internet connections, to render immersive, three-dimensional (3D), virtual-reality (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) learning environments, as well as to deliver innovative services and remote work from and to any location in the world.
The name ‘Mokki’ is derived from the Finnish word ‘mökki’, meaning ‘cottage’. The concept of the 5G cottage was pioneered in collaboration between leading American and Finnish universities.
In partnership with Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, the University of Lusaka in Zambia, as well Aalto University and LUT University in Finland, the ASE announced its 5G Mokki Tech Space at the occasion of the 5G Seasonal School, which is being held simultaneously in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Zambia this week.
The tech spaces enable new types of trans-continental studies, combining technology and business.
At a panel discussion at the seasonal school, hosted by the Start North learning network, education, business and technology experts from Africa, the United States and Europe suggested that if renowned institutions like Stanford University would allocate one percent of their curricula to applied technology studies in collaboration with top universities in Africa, this was bound to have a very significant positive impact on entrepreneurship and job creation, as well as on economic, social and ecological sustainability.
Professor Leonard Wantchekon, founder of the African School of Economics and a Visiting Professor at the Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, emphasised that Africa needs innovation in education to create talent and jobs.
Mr Cosmas Zavazava, Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), highlighted the potential of universities’ 5G learning and innovation environments in tailoring the development of new products and services to local requirements.
Ms. Riina Subra, Director of Finland’s Aalto University Global Impact programme and Head of the EDUCase platform, brought up the need for student-oriented education methods to bring more effectiveness to education in the sub-Saharan region.
EDUCase platform brings together 26 Finnish higher education institutions with academic and societal partners in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to deepen collaboration for sustainability in higher education and innovation.
Mr Chukwuka Igboanua from LUT University elaborated on student-oriented Finnish university education and creating personal learning paths that anticipate the market. The discussion also highlighted the high competence of Finnish universities of applied sciences and the individual study paths they enable, especially for the needs of Africa.
Mr Obinna Obiwulu sees the 5G Mokki Tech Space as combining both education and research close to companies and the market.
5G Mokki is a trademark of Start North, an association that serves as an accelerator network to promote the learning and application of new technologies in order to meet the challenges of global sustainable development.
The accelerator network consists of world-leading universities, companies and not-for-profit organisations, including Ambitious Africa, an initiative bringing African and Nordic youth together to take Africa to the next level.
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