FINAL RELEASE
4th November, 2021: A group of 80 students in Ghana will be offered a course to learn functional programming techniques and how to build smart contract applications – blockchain-based self-executing contracts. The course will enable a new generation of Ghanaian innovators to autonomously develop solutions to tackle day to day challenges faced in the country, from applications to create a more accessible financial industry and also to build projects to grow the arts and music industry with NFTs – unique blockchain-based digital collectibles which artists can sell to fans. Students will be trained in the Haskell programming language – a precise and secure programming language which is used in mission-critical industries such as aerospace, defense and finance, where high levels of accuracy are crucial.
Smart contracts are becoming an increasingly important skill for programmers – they are heavily used in the financial technology space as they offer security, transparency and accuracy without compromising on credibility, whilst also reducing regulatory costs. And given Ghana’s drive to digitize its economy, with the Bank of Ghana currently working towards a blockchain-based digital currency, these skills will be crucial for the next generation of technology leaders.
The course will be held in Accra, Ghana, with delivery partner, the Pan-African Tech Foundation (PATF), a not-for-profit foundation which promotes technological development in Africa, and blockchain research and development company Input Output Global (IOG), the development arm behind the leading green blockchain platform Cardano. PATF and IOG will be liaising with technology-focused universities and hubs to ensure the best candidates for the course are selected, and those who excel at the course will also have job opportunities at IOG.
Charles Hoskinson, CEO at IO Global said: “At IO we are committed to empowering citizens to autonomously develop solutions to day-to-day challenges in their own nations, which is why the Haskell training courses are such a fundamental part of our work.
“We have always taken an academic, research-first approach to blockchain development, so Haskell was our choice of programming language for our industry-leading green blockchain platform, Cardano. With a generation of innovative tech leaders in Ghana capable of using such a secure and robust programming language, we could see transformative applications built which shape the tech landscape in Ghana for decades to come.”
Requirements:
- Degree in IT, Computer Science or Computer Engineering
- Students with background in maths, physics, engineering
Interested participants should send their CV and transcripts to hello@pan-africantech.org
For information on requirements Whatsapp: 0265721444
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About The Pan-African Tech Foundation
The Haskell training launch in Ghana will be facilitated by Elaine Bannerman, Founder of Pan-African Tech Foundation (PATF) and her world class team of professionals. PATF is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental foundation, established in Ghana and the diaspora (UK) to promote technological development in Africa and to provide education, legal, regulatory and technological support in the establishment and implementation of blockchain and other emerging technologies in Africa. In 2021, PATF ran boot camps across the continent introducing Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence through its 5 sub-regional hubs. PATF is currently represented in 50 countries.
About IO Global
IOHK is an R&D and product engineering company, committed to using peer-to-peer innovations to provide 21st century services to the 3bn who don’t have them.
We build blockchain based products for governments, corporations and academic institutions and upskill people across the world, empowering them to solve the most pressing problems faced by people in their countries.
We have core beliefs in decentralization, privacy, economic identity and financial empowerment for everyone, and stand opposed to centralized control and bureaucracy.
For more information – including interview opportunities, contact:
IO Global’s Haskell training courses
In January of 2017, IOG set up its African headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In January of 2019, in cooperation with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology and the Ugandan Government, IOG launched a ten week blockchain developer training course for 22 women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After the successful completion of their courses, five of the highest scoring students were offered full time employment by IOG. The Haskell course has been successfully run in four different countries. The course was initially carried out in Athens, Greece with the majority of the students originating from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens.
In order to have a bigger impact, the course was then taken to countries which initially would not be associated with computer science. Upon the initial success, the course was run in Barbados in association with the University of West Indies, following that, in Ethiopia in co-operation with the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology, and the Ugandan Government, and with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, IOG ran a online learning with Haskell in Mongolia. In April of 2021, IOG signed its first major deal with The Ethiopian Ministry of Education to implement a national, blockchain-based student and teacher ID and attainment recording system to digitally verify grades, remotely monitor school performance and boost education and employment nationwide.
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