Author Archives: iKapture Networks

Following the launch workshop and code-girls meet-ups that spanned for four months (i.e. from January to April 2023), Technovation South-South Nigeria organizes her Regional Pitch Event on the 19th and 20th of May, 2023 at the University of Calabar International Conference Centre, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. This event hosted about 300 attendees including contestants, parents, mentors, volunteers, staff and management of the respective schools from Calabar and Uyo.

47 teams of girls ages 8-18 took the stage on the 19th and 20th of May, 2023 at the University of Calabar International Conference Center, to talk about their problems and the solution they found. These young girls have spent the last 4 months identifying a global technology entrepreneurship program that challenges girls to develop a mobile application to solve an issue they have identified in their community. Some of the problems addressed by their invented mobile apps included low student performances in high school, food waste, climate change, awareness of Asthma, skin diseases and insecurity of judges from the tech industry.

Amid the tough competition, 5 teams emerged as winners for the three respective divisions (i.e. 2 teams for the Beginner division, 2 teams for the Junior division, and a team for the Senior division). These 5 teams (representing South-South Nigeria) will now be advancing to the virtual semi-final round where judges from around the world will evaluate their submissions.
On this note, the iKapture-Technovation team announces the following 5 winning teams of the Technovation South-South Regional Pitch Events:

[ BEGINNER DIVISION]

1. Team  Samaritan

App name: SamaritanApp

SamaritanApp is a platform that creates a connection between those in need and those who can help.

2. Team Girls innovate

App name: AgroFund

Agrofund is an innovative platform empowering farmers and investors to collaborate and cultivate a sustainable agricultural sector that benefits all.

[ JUNIOR DIVISION]

1. Team  Aluno

App name: Alunno

Aluno is a peer-to-peer learning Based Mobile application for Collaborative Learning and student growth in high school. Aluno has three important dimensions of learning resources namely learning contents, learning collaborators and learning services.

2. Team ASPA

App name: Asthmalogic

Asthmalogic is a low data consuming app that is designed to help asthmatic patients. It gives information about the weather, diets, asthmatic patients should consume and the common allergies of an asthmatic patient. It links asthmatic patients, doctors and prescribes useful and helpful medications. 

[SENIOR DIVISION]

1. Team S-Care

App name: DermaDoc

DermaDoc helps reduce the rate of skin disease in our immediate environment and the world or society at large. It helps to link up the mass to dermatologists. Their AI takes a photograph of the affected part of your skin, reads it and explains to you its causes, symptoms, preventive measures and cure [if any] .It will also show you similar diseases in order to widen your knowledge about skin diseases.

Of all the participating teams in this year’s global Technovation Girls program, 15 will be invited to attend the global Technovation World Pitch Summit in October and pitch their mobile app ideas to industry experts and advocates in the United States. In addition to educational experiences during the trip, winning teams receive scholarships to advance their education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. 

In her keynote address speaker -Justina Ovat (founder of JO Foundation) admonishes all the contestants with the following words:

“You have all shown that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning. This mindset encourages resilience, a willingness to learn from failure, and the motivation to continuously improve”.

The 2023 Technovation Girls challenge has been eye-opening especially for the debuts in the event to brace up for future challenges. This event is but one of the programmes anchored by the iKapture Centre for Development.

Kindly keep up with our latest updates on our websites https://ikapturenetworks.org/ and on our respective social media handles:

1. Instagram: ikapturecentre
2. LinkedIn: iKapture Centre for Development
3. Facebook: ikapture Centre for Development

Technovation is a global tech education nonprofit that empowers girls to become more confident leaders, creators, and problem solvers. Since 2010, the organization has engaged over 32,000 girls between the ages of 8 and 18 from over 100 countries in creating mobile applications (using AI and app-based technologies) to solve communal problems. To learn more about the organization, kindly visit technovation.org.

In collaboration with the iKapture Centre for Development, the 2023 Technovation Girls Challenge Program was brought to Calabar in Cross River State, a south-south region of Nigeria.

 Activities for the Technovation Girls Challenge 2023 commenced in earnest on the second week of January 2023 with the visitation of schools (including nursery, primary, and secondary) and the submission of invitation letters to such schools by the iKapture-Technovation Team for permission to sensitize the girls about Technovation, as most schools were debuts to this challenge.

This year’s Technovation challenge involved schools in remote areas in both Calabar and Uyo as well as a special education centre in Calabar. From these schools emerged a total of over 600 registered participants with some 200 established teams that engaged in this global competition which proceeded with a launch workshop and several code-girls meet-ups.

Parents and guardians of these girls really appreciated this global competition. Notice the statement from one of the parents:
“I am very grateful to iKapture Centre for Development for bringing in this great program (Technovation Girls Challenge), which has helped boost my daughter’s intellect in terms of technology/technical skills, team building & critical thinking. This is my first time seeing her being committed to a task in competition and standing a chance of winning.” – A grateful parent.
The first two phases of this global competition (i.e. the launch workshop and the code-girls meet-ups) whetted the appetite of the parents and management of some schools for the next phase of this challenge – the Regional Pitch Event.
Kindly keep up with our latest updates on our websites https://ikapturenetworks.org/ and on our respective social media handles:

1. Instagram: ikapturecentre
2. LinkedIn: iKapture Centre for Development
3. Facebook: ikapture Centre for Development

The COVID-19 pandemic era has revealed that there is a greater need for youths to take advantage of the growing pace of modern technology to emerge as digitalized leaders and entrepreneurs. To that end, iKapture Centre for Development – a non-profit organization – developed the 12^th edition of Youths Leadership. Entrepreneurship, and Development (YLEAD) Virtual Fellowship program to “up” the “skills” of youths in the modern era making them equip digitally to assume any leadership role in any corporate organization or as entrepreneurs.

The 12^th edition of the 2022 YLEAD Virtual Fellowship program was tagged “Upskill” and was proudly sponsored by BlankPaperz Media. This 4-week program commenced on the 7^th of November, 2022 and spanned to the 2^nd of December, 2022. There was a total of 20 eligible international participants holding from 10 different countries including Nigeria, Zambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Cameroon, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

The 2022 YLEAD Virtual Fellowship program provided for young scholars to interact with and learn from the experiences of successful digital leaders and entrepreneurs. The program kick-started with an opening remark given by Mrs Juliet Inyang, Former Executive Director, iKapture Centre for Development. Following this was a notable Keynote Address titled ‘Upskilling in a Digital Era’ by Mirabelle Morah, Founder of BlankPaperz. This keynote address was listened in to by 20 participants who connected to the virtual program via the Zoom conference meeting.

For the first two weeks of the program, the attendees were taken through a thorough and intensive drill on team building and emotional intelligence, vision boarding, critical thinking and problem solving, toxic traits, goal setting, communication skills and etiquette, SEO content and copywriting skills, robotics and drone creation to mention but a few. The next two weeks were for the participants to put into practice what they had learned through the internship.

The 2022 YLEAD Virtual Fellowship program impacted positively the attendees of the program. this is evidenced by the testimonies of these participants. Consider some of them below:

“Honestly, today’s session was lit and ended with an amazing game. I must commend the organizers of the program, most especially BlankPaperz who made my coming here happen ….” – Mr Olowo. YLEAD Class of 2022.

“Wow, today’s session has been worth the while. Thank you iKapture Networks.”– Miss Peace. YLEAD Class of 2022.

“Naked truth. I had benefited a lot from your programs. I can’t wait to turn those lessons into my habit and benefit the broader community as well. Thank you.” – Mr Castus YLEAD Class of 2022.

On the whole, this virtual program upskilled the participants equipping them as digitalized leaders and entrepreneurs. The graduands (emerging Yleaders) were presented with certificates for their exceptional performances.

Kindly keep up with our latest updates on our websites https://ikapturenetworks.org/ and our respective social media handles:

1. Instagram: ikapturecentre

2. LinkedIn: iKapture Centre for Development

3. Facebook: ikapture Centre for Development