University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Wednesday said it has concluded plans to launch its Artificial Intelligence initiative, which aims to foster innovation in Nigeria.
Themed: University Innovation Pods (UniPODs), the initiative is rolled out under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) pan-African initiative ‘timbuktoo’. It is part of a network of 13 UNiPOD being set up across African countries by UNDP, to create a link between research and product innovation while empowering the continent’s youth to spearhead its industrial progress.
The vice chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, made this known during the UNDP public lecture and AI UniPOD groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday in Lagos.
Ogunsola said UniPOD aims to encourage students in universities to engage in innovation and design thinking, adding that the project is multi-pronged and focuses on supporting and growing innovative, scalable, and impactful entrepreneurship by African young people while relying on a springboard of partners who together will contribute meaningfully to building an African youth innovation and start-up ecosystem.
The vice chancellor described the UniPOD as a ‘living and breathing hub’, where a community of dreamers, thinkers, and doers are united by a common passion: the pursuit of groundbreaking ideas and the relentless drive to turn them into reality. She added that Nigeria will always be the first in innovation and will be the anchor in economic transformation in Africa.
United Nations assistant secretary-general and UNDP’s assistant administrator, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, said, “We must invest in the creative industry; in the development of music, fashion, movies, …creative entertainment generally and technology, thereby turning the wheel as an anchor in economic transformation”.
Eziakonwa, who believes Nigeria will take Africa as a continent to the next level of innovation, further stated, “the transformative power and strategic influence of innovation will improve people’s lives”.
Eziakonwa expressed joy for the attainment of this landmark achievement in the drive towards the use of technology and innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
