By Samuel Akumatey
Ho, Nov 12, GNA – A Ho-based active digital innovation hub, Node Eight, is celebrating achievements including the training of more than 1000 youths in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within five years of existence.
The tech hub has also impacted thousands of direct and indirect beneficiaries in an enterprise that connects academia to industry.
Mr Courage Asase, the Managing Director, at the media launch of the fifth anniversary, said the hub had successfully survived the crucial stages of infancy and was confident of bigger strides ahead.
The hub had worked to provide the needed tech resources for the present work outlook, and an outlet for the many tech talents in the region and beyond.
“Node Eight claims the place as the leading centre for tech innovation in the region, attracting several affiliations including with the Ghana Tech Lab, and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI),” he said.
It could boast of about 80 programmes and activities including development and innovation marathons, industry pitching competitions, and job fairs, which had benefited several students and graduates in the enclave, who took advantage of the free training to claim an edge in ICT.
Its enterprises support programmes benefited over 500 micro, small and medium scale enterprises, who received training and startups.
Mr Asase said an agri-space initiative, Green Lab, is also being undertaken to support the youth to establish their farms and excel.
He said a digital health project was also being introduced to stimulate youth engagements in the remote health care industry, powered by ICT.
He called for collaboration with educational institutions among other stakeholders across the region with policy coherence between them and government to streamline issues to avoid unhealthy competitions.
Mr Benjamin Aklama, the Green Lab lead of the Node, said agriculture remained a key programme in which the project invested in serviced farmlands and handed them over to farmers.
He expressed the hope to market tech-enhanced agriculture and agribusiness to ensure food security.
The anniversary would be climaxed with a gala in Ho on December 24, 2022.
GNA