Uganda’s information, communication and technology minister, John Nasasira, has called on native ICT institutions to deliver practical solutions geared towards the development and growth of the country.
Nasasira said this through a statement read by permanent secretary Patrick Samanya at the Uganda Institute of Information Technology (UICT) where 28 informal artisans were awarded certificates.
Samanya went on to add that a good ICT base can be created in the country by mixing informal and formal training.
The New Vision reports the artisans were admitted under the Uganda Technicians and Information Technology Associations (UTITA), which tries to equip the artisans with formal qualifications as most of them are primary school dropouts.
“ICT has been made a priority area as a means of propelling transformation and development. Our target as the government now is to see to it that all institutions address the component of using ICT for service delivery,” read part of the statement.
Samanya also thanked the artisans for their dedication to improving IT by getting formal training, which will give them more knowledge on their work.
“These are the people we need to break away from the normal routine and become innovative,” said Nasasira.
“We do not only need students who are just innovative, but those that can produce prototypes that can be activated in real life and also multiplied. We need to collaborate with other industrial people to make sure that we put all these innovations into use.”
The artisans later presented their exhibits that included turning computer monitors into televisions, self powered capacitors and uninterrupted power supply, which also regulates energy.
