Yaaka digital learning platform emerges as Africa Prize runner-up

Yaaka Digital learning platform has emerged as one of the runners up at the third Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation finals.

In a glamorous event held in Nairobi, Kenya on 23^rd May 2017, Hindu Nabulumba the Yaaka Digital Learning platform ambassador did her final pitch, earning her a prize of £10,000.

Launched in 2014 by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Prize aims at stimulating, celebrating and rewarding engineers who have developed innovations that will benefit Africans.

The Royal Academy for Engineering, UK’s national engineering academy brings together the most successful and talented engineers from across the engineering sector for a shared purpose: to advance and promote excellence in engineering.

It is a national academy with a global outlook, and uses international partnerships to ensure that the UK benefits from international networks, expertise and investment.

The academy provides analysis and policy support to promote the UK’s role as a great place to do business. It takes a lead on engineering education and invests in the UK’s world-class research base to underpin innovation. It works to improve public awareness and understanding of engineering.

The highly contested Africa Prize is meant to encourage talented sub-Saharan African engineers, from all disciplines, to develop local solutions to challenges in their communities.

The Prize selects a shortlist of innovators from across the continent and provides training and mentoring to help turn engineers with incredible ideas into successful entrepreneurs.

This year, 16 innovations were selected from eight countries across Africa: South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Four finalists who were selected from Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria; and the overall winner was to walk away with £25,000 and the three runners up, £10,000.

Hindu who represented Yaaka Digital Learning Platform underwent a 6 months mentorship program that took her through making Yaaka Digital Learning Platform better.

Yaaka digital learning platform intends to use its £10,000 cash prize to develop the product further.

These are some of the things we shall use the funds for;

·      Yaaka installation in 40 schools; we shall be doing a pilot in schools around Kampala by installing it in schools to see how it really works.

·      Promotions; we shall also be doing rigorous advertising and promotion of the product both online and offline.

·      Development of the Offline and Yaaka Plus; we shall also be doing more development on our offline application and Yaaka Plus as well.

The Yaaka Digital Learning Platform team is so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation because it has opened them to very many opportunities and has also made it better for them to improve their product.

Yaaka Digital learning platform is an award winning digital media platform for students and trainers in university, tertiary institutions, secondary school, pre-primary and primary to learn/train, mentor and share in academics, social and extracurricular activities of their interest, and to especially share and access digital academic materials in text, audio or audiovisual/video; as well as hold or attend classes on internet connected computers or on their mobile digital gadgets.

Yaaka Digital Learning Platform is under Ultimate Multimedia Consult which is a multimedia organisation offering news, information and knowledge for best multimedia practices which is led by Gerald Businge a lecturer at Makerere University in the Journalism and Communication department.