Botswana Inaugural Makeathon: Dr Norris
University of Botswana Vice Chancellor Dr Norris attended the Makeathon Dinner and also gave an address to participants and otganisers. He could not applaud enough efforts by VDMA, Germany Embassy and ITQ GmbH .Botswana is the second country in Africa after Tunisia to host the Smart Green Makeathon”.He said this is a concept has been developed over the years (in some countries) to build engineering and innovation skills amongst University students and graduates. The Vice Chancellor explained that , “By hosting the Smart Green Makeathon, we are aiming to achieve the two objectives of training students. Firstly, to embrace innovation and creativity as a way of life in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Secondly, it is to build capacity and develop technical skills that will be required by the electric mobility industry as the industry sets investment in Botswana.”
A significant number of researchers at UB have embraced and worked with new technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution era such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) ,Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, High Performance Computing and others. These technologies have become a core curriculum activity, particularly in the STEM disciplines.In recognizing their role as a higher institution of learning responsible for education and training, the University of Botswana has taken robust steps to ensuring that Botswana is not left behind as the fourth industrial revolution marches on.
The University has set up a ‘Think Tank’ to lead the exploratory discussions on they can leverage on its human resources and infrastructure towards propelling Botswana to be a key participant in the fourth industrial revolution. University of Botswana is working towards playing a significant role in the national innovation system by establishing an Innovation Centre that will incubate staff and students’ research and ideas into products and services. This Centre will be open to all those with innovative ideas.
“Since the beginning of the event, we have seen spectacular displays of creativity and innovation by our young participants and we will cap this tonight with the unveiling of another which for now remains a secret. I trust that this is only the beginning of greater things to come and we should all look forward to be part of this transformational journey.”
