The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has explained the essence of the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematic Bootcamp, it organized for kids across Nigeria during the summer holiday.
Giving a keynote at the closing ceremony of the 10-day Bootcamp in Lagos, the Director General of NITDA, Mal. Kashifu Inuwa, explained that the essence of the Bootcamp is to broaden the minds of the kids in critical thinking and a high sense of curiosity in the world of science and digital technology.
“Children should open up their curious minds to explore everything Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics has to offer and continue with the journey towards becoming technology leaders who will steer the country towards prosperity. This is the essence of the STEM Bootcamp,’ Mal. Inuwa, who was represented at the closing ceremony by Mrs. Jumoke Alaka, Manager, South – West zonal office, NITDA said.
According to her, the Bootcamp for kids, which is empowered by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the arm of NITDA meant to drive R&D and innovation in the areas of emerging technologies has trained over 800 young Nigerians across the country.
She argued that as Nigeria matches towards the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), there is a need for a new strategy and innovative approaches to STEM education, such as the introduction of Artificial intelligence (AI), Robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other emerging technologies into our educational system to boost the quality of education, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, which is fast deteriorating in Nigeria as evident from the recent performance of students in major national examinations.
It is in this light that NITDA is organizing the Bootcamp, which is aimed at bridging the gap that currently exists in the country’s educational sector.
“This Stem Bootcamp for Kids triggers our interest at NITDA and resonates deeply with our ongoing efforts toward implementing the National Digital economy policy for digital Nigeria. Our mandate is to create a framework for the planning, research, development, and standardization application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria.
“NITDA remains committed to supporting campaigns to diversify the country’s economy from a resource-based to a knowledge-based one through Information Technology (IT). We are indeed proud to be part of this eve.
“It is my pleasure to introduce to you National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the arm of NITDA meant to drive R&D and innovation in the areas of emerging technologies. NCAIR is one of NITDA’s special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development on emerging technologies and their practical application in areas of Nigeria’s national interest,” she said.
Kids across spectrums of the society were trained by NCAIR, a training organ of NITDA on Coding, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Drone. Digital Communications, Embedded Systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality, and 3D requisite skill-set for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
As an NCAIR’s catch-them-young initiative, the SB4KIDS is a Bootcamp to inspire young Nigerians in STEM. Through the SB4Kids, NCAIR engages youngsters between the age of 8 and 16 years in an immersive and well-articulated Bootcamp meant to coach and inspire them to imbibe STEM passion and create an early interest in digital and emerging technologies, which will hopefully shape their future careers in these fields. NITDA SB4Kids is a yearly initiative, normally conducted during the summer school holidays.