Africa's development is dependent on our ability to close the digital divide between race, gender, and rural regions. Therefore to ensure the sustainability of technological development in Africa, we need to build capacity among our young population in order to equip them with the required skills to excel as leaders in this sector.
Through its member higher education institutions, African research and education networks (RENs) provides a hub of African young people (especially the students) who engage modern-day technology through STEM-related courses or as end-users of new and emerging technologies. National RENs should be encouraged to develop the technical capacity of its youth community by creating an avenue for them to participate and benefit from the opportunities provided by their annual conferences.
A day dedicated to students and young professionals from the participating NRENs at the Cotonou 2020 WACREN annual conference will showcase how NRENs could collaborate with other Internet stakeholder organizations to promote youth inclusion in technology development in Africa.
OBJECTIVES