Innovation Support Networks (ISN), Nigeria’s largest network of innovation hubs and co-working spaces,, is set to hold its Regional Gatherings for members in the North and in the South on 1st July and 8th July 2020, respectively.
The Regional Gatherings create opportunities for innovation leaders, hub owners and users to learn and network amongst themselves and with other stakeholders, including policymakers and funders, and are intended to foster collaborations around innovations that solve problems at grassroots and regional levels.
Regarding the strategy of having Regional Gatherings, the Chairman of ISN, Tomi Davies, stated that “The development of Hubs and their Founders are more likely to succeed when there is a close-knit local support structure. Each locale has specific idiosyncrasies and addressing these per region makes the engagement more impactful. It’s important to note, though, that we also have the ISN Hubs Annual Gathering, which is open to all Hubs and is held on a rational basis in different locations across the country.”
Though the ISN Regional Gathering Events were previously scheduled for Q1 of this year, they were inadvertently postponed due to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. These events are now due to hold, via Zoom, on July 1st and 8th, for the ISN North Regional Event and the ISN South Regional Event respectively. All interested participants should register here.
The event is scheduled for 11 am – 1 pm on each day and would include two-panel sessions as well as a bonus talk on ensuring post-pandemic safety in shared spaces.
The ISN Regional Gatherings, which are sponsored by Ford Foundation, provide opportunities for leaders in the technology and innovation ecosystem to meet and map out industry trends, opportunities for collaboration, make policy recommendations, and discuss real-life experiences, lessons as well as solutions.
The expected outcome of these events is to create an enabling environment that would promote frequent meetings and collaborations amongst hub leaders to solve challenges being experienced in each region, which should drive the uptake of homegrown innovation and technology across the country.
As forward-looking countries have continued to invest extensively in the development of local innovations and technologies to solve national problems, ISN is driving a similar agenda for Nigeria to leverage the solutions coming out of her resilient tech and innovation community to evolve as a major provider of technology-based solutions, not just for the country, but for the rest of Africa and indeed the world.