The Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa, CENIT@EA, entered its second project phase. Called “Digital Skills for an Innovative East African Industry, dskills@EA – CENIT@EA”, this second project phase builds on and expands the successful activities surrounding the centre and the Embedded and Mobile Systems master’s degree program established in Tanzania.
Strengthening ICT talent in East Africa
The goal of the dskills@EA-CENIT-CENIT@EA project is to further strengthen teaching and research in the field of embedded and mobile systems in East Africa: by continuing the master’s degree program in Embedded and Mobile Systems (EMoS) established in the previous project phase, by qualifying young people for the ICT job market, and by strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship in East Africa. The hub of the project remains the Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA) established in the previous phase. Strong research and teaching in the field of Embedded and Mobile Systems will ensure the employability of graduates and thus retain qualified IT professionals in the countries of the East African Community (EAC).
Components of the project
During dskills@EA – CENIT@EA some elements of the predecessor project are deepened, while other elements are newly added. The established curriculum of the Embedded and Mobile Systems (EMoS) master’s degree program will be expanded and re-accredited. Systematic quality management ensures the quality of teaching in the program, and close cooperation with partners from industry strengthens its practical relevance. Innovation management supports students and graduates with start-up plans. Compact training courses provide the digital skills that are in demand in the business world. New additions to the dskills@EA-CENIT@EA project include a career service unit, alumni work and a didactic center.
About the project
The dskills@EA – CENIT@EA project continues to bring together the expertise of experienced institutions in ICT research and teaching, internationalization and engagement. In addition to the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (UOL), these are the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, Tanzania, as the host of the EMoS degree program, the University of Dar Es Salam (UDSM), Tanzania, the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB), Rwanda and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Braunschweig, Germany. Further East African and German academic partners will join in the seond phase. Implementation partners of the Higher Education Center are the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA). Project sponsor is the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Phase 1 started in 2018, phase 2 is scheduled to end in December 2023.