Doctor Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy in Nigeria, has announced that the Young Innovative Builders (YIB) program is now open for college students who want to enter to win a laptop or tablet.
This was written by the Minister on X a few days ago. He said, “The young innovators we give today will keep the digital economy we are building going in the future.” In the same way, I understand how vital programs like Industrial Training programs are for developing the skills of young Nigerians and giving them real-life practice using what they’ve learned.
“During the Industrial Training program, a lot of interesting and useful technical projects were made that fit with our goals to develop our digital economy.” This is why we’re starting the Young Innovative Builders (YIB) program, where college students can enter for a chance to win a laptop or tablet to help them work on their ideas even more, he said.
The YIB program will highlight and reward creative projects created by young Nigerians that support the Ministry’s goals to expand the digital economy. Tablets will be given to the following 40 best projects, and computers will be given to the top 48 projects in each state and the FCT.
The 3,256 devices that will be given out—48 laptops and 40 tablets for each state of the federation and the FCT—were given by the NCC to students in tertiary schools to help them learn and use technology in Nigeria, according to Dr Tijani.
Read also: Sahara Group Foundation Empowers Young Innovators
Young Innovative Builders eligibility requirements
A first-degree student at a Nigerian university is required.
You must have created a digitally enabled-project or product.
Student status is required three months after the tournament (December 22, 2023) ends.
Participants must have completed industrial training.
The project ought to tackle actual societal issues.
Application process
Applications open Nov. 22 and close Dec. 6, 2023.
Use the website’s application form to apply.
Using a consistent grading system, a diverse selection committee representing academia, industry, the Ministry, and other stakeholders will assess applications.
The applicants will be announced via official channels by December 22, 2023.
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Criteria for selection
A diverse selection group will look over the applications. These will be some of the choosing criteria:
Novelty and Originality: How new and different is the idea compared to other options already out there?
Meaning and Importance: Does the project solve real problems in the country or community?
Feasibility and scalability: How do you know if the idea can be used on a large scale?
Quality of the presentation and the documentation: How good is the presentation at explaining how the solution was made and how nice the end product looks?