By Karmal Shittu
The European Digital SME Alliance has announced a relationship with the Imo State Government, which will see the community members of the Alliance leverage on the pool of IT skills in Imo to enhance the activities and operations of its members.
A Twitter message on X (@EUdigitalsme which celebrated the development said: “DIGITAL SME is glad to announce a partnership with Imo State (Nigeria) focussing in key actions in #skills development with specific planning of mentoring and #digital skills training. It marks an additional step in DIGITAL SME’s commitment to empowering #SME.”
The Memorandum of Understanding with Imo State Government, Nigeria, according to DIGITAL SME, will cover the following areas: promote the uptake of advanced digital solutions and skills in Imo State; key actions in the areas of knowledge sharing and skills development, with specific planning of mentoring programmes and digital skills training; and additional step in DIGITAL SME’s commitment to empowering SME innovators to lead digital transformation in Imo State and beyond, championing a human-centric to technology and standards globally.
This is a good call for Imo State, whose governor, Hope Uzodinma, was massively misunderstood in the days running up to the elections last year, when he had boasted that his state would soon start to export some of its citizens abroad, without being able to tie such development to the SKillUp Imo IT skills programme that was training an impressive number of Imo youths for the local and international IT skills market.
An excited Dr Oliver Grun, President, DIGITAL SME, said, “The partnership with the Imo State Government, Nigeria, will open up more opportunities for European Digital SMEs who will be able to benefit from insights into tech market dynamics in West Africa and access to local talent. Cooperation between SMEs from like-minded regions is essential for an inclusive and innovative digital economy that benefits everyone, and this is just the beginning of our worldwide collaboration efforts.”
Almost accepting the same enthusiasm from Grun, Dr Chimezie Amadi, Imo State Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government, whose of SKillUp Imo resonated in the governor ab initio declared that “this collaborative partnership with the European Digital SME Alliance will foster innovation and entrepreneurship while creating new market opportunities for Startups and innovators in Imo State.”
Areas of special interest, according to the Memorandum are as follows:
Freelancing Programme – will allow European companies to access a talent pool of digital professionals from Imo State, while providing these professionals with opportunities for professional development. This initiative seeks to contribute to the socio-economic of local communities in Imo State, and will prioritise available to local female workforce.
Mentoring Programme – will link European businesses with young people in Imo State, providing them with insights and digital careers and knowledge necessary to succeed in the national and international markets.
Digital Skils Training – is recognised as a means of increasing the quality of life in Imo State by equipping young people with relevant digital skills that can connect them to new job opportunities arising from the global digital economy. To this end, Digital SME will share best practices on upskilling and reskilling young people interested in working in the digital sector and through a train-the-trainer approach, support the creation of Digital Skills training hub.
The European Digital SME Alliance, according to Wikipedia, is a community of small and medium ICT enterprises (SMEs). Its members are national sectoral digital SME associations in 30 countries and regions in the EU and neighbouring countries, all together it associates more than 45, 00 SMEs. Established in 2007, the organisation was known then as Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for SME.
This is obviously a big haul for Imo State whose cardinal programme, SKillUp Imo, has trained 20, 000 Imo youths in two Cohorts, 5,000 were picked for further training by their tech partners. It will serve as a catchment area for DIGITAL SME. The SKillUp Imo project benchmarks the much bigger dream, Imo State Economic Agenda (IDEA) 2022 – 2026.
“This agreement is an additional step by DIGITAL SME in collaborating with international partners, as part of DIGITAL SME’s commitment to support efforts to establish a productive dialogue with public and private stakeholders and advance a democratic and human-centred approach to technology and ICT standards around the world,” the statement further explained.
It is my hope that this development will further encourage Governor Uzodinma to commit more funds into building a tech future for the young people of Imo State who can now nurture a future in several worlds.
Karmal Shittu writes from Minna, Niger State.