Microsoft Africa Development Center (ADC) and Microsoft Leap partnered with the Nigeria Association of Computing Students (NACOS), the umbrella body for students studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, and all IT related courses in Nigeria, at its recently held Gender Equality Participation in Information Technology (GEPICT 2023) conference held between January 26th and 28th 2023 at the Bells University of Technology, Ota-Ota, Nigeria.
The event aimed to bridge the digital divide and promote gender equality in Nigeria’s information technology sector.
This collaboration gave 100 female undergraduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions access to cutting-edge technology and training, preparing them to succeed in the rapidly expanding tech industry.
The female students learned while solving real-world challenges during the one-day training program, called a Learn-athon-Learning-Marathon. They worked together and took practical steps to brainstorm, discover, critically analyze, and improve their software engineering subject knowledge.
“We are committed to empowering women in technology and providing them with the skills and opportunities they need to succeed,” said Akanni Omotolani, NACOS, National Vice President “Our partnership with Microsoft ADC and Microsoft Leap brought together some of the brightest female minds in technology to provide hands-on training and mentorship to the next generation of female technology leaders.”
“At Microsoft, we are on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and this requires finding and developing great talent that represents our diverse communities and cultures. We share NACOS ’s commitment to empowering women in technology, and their participation in the training program brought a wealth of experience and expertise to the program.
“The training program will also provide a unique opportunity for attendees to network with technology professionals and learn from their experiences”.
“We believe that empowering women in technology is key to driving innovation and progress in Africa,” said Oluwasefunmi Wande-Durojaye, Head, Ecosystem and Development at Microsoft ADC. “Our partnership with NACOS and Microsoft Leap helped to bridge the gender gap in technology and provide women with the skills and support they need to succeed.”
Post the training, the participants were given a project task which was to build rest API endpoints for a book library, they were given endpoints, as well as mock data to input in their database and submit their codes to the Microsoft ADC GitHub page for review by mentors. On submission of the project task, participants would be issued a badge for participation.
