Qualcomm, a world leader in wireless technology, has announced the African Innovation Platform, a collection of mentorship, education, and training programs designed to foster the growth of Africa’s budding technological ecosystem.
The platform will give access to Qualcomm’s engineers and its cutting-edge capabilities suite for mobile platforms and technologies, including 4G, 5G, IoT, AI, and machine learning, to local institutions, small-to-medium-sized startups, and award participants.
In order to launch the Africa Innovation Platform, Qualcomm personnel will interact and work with governments, trade associations, and other significant stakeholders across the continent, including the African Telecommunications Union (ATU).
The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) recently launched a youth innovation program for Africa with an estimated financial worth of roughly US$400,000. “The ATU is a steadfast promoter of innovation,” the ATU stated. “ATU welcomes Qualcomm’s Africa Innovation Initiative and looks forward to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together, igniting new business opportunities, and helping to solve problems in a variety of sectors, including education, health, agriculture, movement, trade, and government services.”
The Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Programme is the most important program on Qualcomm’s Africa Innovation Platform from the perspective of startups. It is an equity-free mentorship program designed to identify promising early-stage startups eager to apply cutting-edge connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems solutions, including hardware, and to provide these companies with business coaching, access to engineering consultation, and other resources.
On Qualcomm’s website, you can find information on these programs, including how to apply, what qualifies you, and what benefits you will receive.
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