Digital Innovations for Business Resilience in the East African Community, a program under the dSkills@EA project aims to support young innovators at universities in the East African Community to develop and implement digital innovations for business resilience.

Digital Skills for an Innovative East African Industry (dSkills@EA) is a project as part of the technical development cooperation between the German Government under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat.

The economy of the East African Community (EAC) is characterized by low productivity and low competitiveness, leading to high unemployment, especially among youth. Innovation and the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) by businesses are drivers of socio-economic development and international competitiveness. With the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have been forced to adopt digital innovations, which played a significant role in their ability to survive throughout the disruption. To unlock the potential of ICT for the economy, the availability of digital skills and skilled workers with appropriate qualifications and innovation capacity is crucial.

It’s time to celebrate digital innovations from 6 East-African Countries and to bring the East African Innovation Ecosystem together. The event will be hosted purely online and will provide everyone a chance to participate. During the Grand Finale, 12 teams from 6 EAC will pitch their innovations for grants of a pool of USD 10,000.

The Pitch Day is Here!!

On behalf of the African Institute for Mathematical Science (AIMS), we do hereby announce the opening of application for Coding Contest on Java – Bootcamp to be hosted by Next Einstein Forum (NEF) during Africa Science Week -2022 Edition in East Africa in collaboration with Christian Students Hub and Koneta Hub. The program will run from 30 May to 3 June 2022 in Koneta Hub inside JCC compound for in-person participation and online.

The program will take place two hours daily from 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Women are highly encouraged to apply for the program.

As Next Einstein Forum for East Africa Region recognizing women in STEM in Eat Africa Region, please scan the code to nominate our fellow South Sudanese women in STEM.
To register for the contest, click on this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfe1gTfAIdIzvMJ3xDgweNZWgIcaJbUHLiuYmr2dL80niK6sw/viewform and fill your details:

Admission for the program will be done on first come first serve basis. Only forty applicants will be shortlisted for the program.

For more inquiry, you can contact us on cmentorshipp@gmail.com You can also call or WhatsApp us on +211923171222.

This week on Monday we started a basic computer training for 20 students who completed Senior Four (S4) and are awaiting to join the Universities.
As part of our digital inclusion programs, this training is aimed at preparing the students with the right skills that will help them while pursuing their careers in STEAM. This training that will take three weeks will cover An introduction to Computer, Microsoft Office and Internet Techniques which are core skills everyone should have.

” The digital gap in South Sudan is very alarming with the current technological and digital innovations. The young people need more digital skills and awareness to expose them to the growing digital economies and this is why we are doing our best at Koneta, to give an opportunity to these young people.” Denaya Dennis, Director, Koneta.

Koneta is conducting this training with a support from the US Embassy, Juba. A grant that is aimed at conducting digital and entrepreneurship skills of vulnerable South Sudanese youth. And championing STEM education awareness for both boys and girls.

Are you a University Student or an innovator who wants to start a new business solution in South Sudan?

Koneta Hub in partnership with MTN South Sudan for the first time will launch the Yello’ Startup Bootcamp, a 3-days accelerator program that will help you refine and define new ideas that are scalable for the South Sudan market.

Ten (10) groups will be selected to participate in the bootcamp in which 5 will be selected during a public pitch day on the 21st June. These 5 teams will be incubated for a period of 1 year and benefit from more mentorship and support at Koneta Hub.

Benefits of the Program to the Selected 5 Startups

1. Mentorship: A team of mentors support you and build your capacities on Business Plan, Strategy, Leadership, Branding and other topics.
2. Workshops: Monthly workshops with experts on areas such as Vision & Strategy, Organisation Development & Structure, Competitive Analysis, Hiring Strategies.
3. Building Public Narratives: Learn to narrate your story in a way that it touches, moves and inspires others.
4. Impact measurement: Learn to evaluate and communicate the social impact of your organisation.
5. Networking: Get an opportunity to meet sector experts, funders, and other like-minded individuals.
6. Follow-on funding: Prepare your financial model for investors and learn how to pitch to funders.

Criteria

1. Must be a team of at least 3 members.
2. Must be a student from any of the recognized Universities in South Sudan.
3. A creative thinker and able to speak and understand English.
4. Willing to start up a new venture.
5. More female students and fresh graduates are encouraged to apply

Timeline: This is a short time opportunity and you must be able to attend intensive 3 to 4 days training.
Applications are reviewed on first come first basis.

Koneta is implementing a “Tech Inclusion in Peacebuilding and Economic Empowerment (PeaceTech) –(#TEIPE)” project that is funded by the US Embassy, Juba.

By narrowing the ICT digital gaps among various youth groups, the project aims to address challenges of limitation to access ICT services, usage inabilities, skills gaps by coming up with intervention strategies that avail the necessary resources, facilities and training in topics filling the gap; These youth will be drawn from diverse ethnic and careers (such as journalists, student leaders, teachers, entrepreneurs, activities, etc).

We aspire to contribute towards the development of a dynamic ICT training models, with a focus on conflict-sensitive planning and delivery methodologies, skills development models

This project therefore will strengthen overall the knowledge, competences and leadership capacities of the participating youth, and indirectly benefit other youth. Finally, the project will support the duplication of best practices in future in other parts of South Sudan as a sustainability measure.

The training content will cover Digital Storytelling, Digital Communications and Marketing, Branding, Blogging, Digital Security and Open Education Resources.

Who Should Apply?

This training is for any South Sudanese youth between the age of 18 and 35 years old.  We are looking for change-makers who bring commitment, engagement and courage to the world. Participants will be selected from among students, non-profits, public administration, start-ups, local communities, youth leaders and advocates and the media practitioners.

You must be able to speak, write and understand English.

Selection Process

Participants will be selected on a merit-basis after thorough review of the application. Your application should;

1. Indicate why you are interested in this training and how you will use the skills you learnt.
2. Your leadership experience in your organization, university or community.

Application Deadline: 26^th April 2021. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Application forms can be picked at Koneta Office inside Juba Christian Centre Compound during working hours or online. For more information contact us on info@konetahub.org or call 0918287850.