The programme aims to empower entrepreneurs who would like to develop their skills and knowledge to become established players in the IoT ecosystem nationally and internationally.
According to the Worldwide and Regional Internet of Things 2010-2014 Forecast by IDC, the IoT market opportunity for the Middle East and Africa region is poised to grow by 10% CAGR, from $85.1bn in 2017 to $114.4bn by 2020. These statistics highlight the massive untapped potential for IoT in the region, including Africa; and with the (IoT)E programme, SqwidNet will ensure the necessary skills and knowledge to operate in this industry are imparted to all who are interested.
“The next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation for Africa must come from within the continent itself. Over the years we have seen our continent’s engineers and entrepreneurs have great ideas, but often lack the means and sometimes even the tools to convert these ideas into viable businesses. Our programme is designed to not only provide the necessary tools but also give guidance to enable these brilliant minds to take their products to market,” says Reshaad Sha, CEO SqwidNet.
The (IoT)E programme will focus on three key development areas during a three-day workshop:
The workshop will be followed by a weekly webinar over a period of six weeks where participants will be afforded the opportunity to interact with and learn from experts in device development, platform development and entrepreneurship.
25 individuals will be selected in the first round of participants and will start their programme in January 2018. Potential participants should submit their motivations on Twitter using the hashtag #iotep or tagging @sqwidnet in their tweet. Alternatively, those interested in participating can send an email to moc.tendiwqs@petoi.
In order to deliver significant value to successful participants who manage to build working prototypes, SqwidNet, with its channel and ecosystem partners, will make available a funding pool that could be accessed by the participants to enable entrepreneurs to go from prototype to production.