Driving sustainable impact in Africa through robotics
The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is causing systemic changes across many sectors and aspects of human life. For the African continent, being part of this new economic revolution may be full of challenges, yet it is also full of promise. Many African countries have already developed policy initiatives which are either exploring the feasibility or preparing the ground for the adoption of 4IR technologies. Robotics is one of the most talked about 4IR technologies as an approach to attaining the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal on industrial innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9).
JOGL Africa’s second Community event of 2022 organised in partnership with Pan-African Robotics Competition (PARC) explored the theme ‘Making Sustainable Impact in Africa through Robotics’. The event, which took place on 16th March 2022, consisted of a discussion on the theme with PARC Founder Dr. Sidy Ndao, a presentation of the PARC initiative and their next plans, and highlights of the PARC experience from previous winners.
The Pan African Robotics Competition (PARC) in Senegal is a decentralised youth program founded in 2015 by Dr. Sidy Ndao, the president of Dakar American University of science and technology (DAUST). The initiative is one of the driving forces for innovation that aims to contribute to shaping STEM Education and problem-solving culture on the continent.
The session started with a discussion between Dr. Sidy Ndao and JOGL Africa’s Gameli Adzaho on his background, experiences, passion for robotics, the PARC initiative, and making sustainable change in Africa. After many years of studying in the United states, Dr. Ndao, a renowned scientist, thought deeply of how he could give back to his society and mentor youth in STEM education across Africa. His immense passion led him to create an organisation SenEcole which notably hosts PARC, which is now Africa’s largest youth STEM program. The competition attracts young people from different countries to problem-solve underlying challenges of health, transport, climate change and environment, among other societal needs, through robotics.
“The application of robotics has widely spread around the world. Obviously Africa has something to learn about it.”- Dr. Ndao
During the session, Dr. Ndao encouraged African scientists, researchers and innovators to embrace hardware and robotics engineering despite limiting challenges such as slow internet and lack of conducive working environment, which can be addressed by building more tech hubs in developing countries.
Participants engaged with the guest speaker on the fear of robots taking away jobs in the future. Dr. Ndao demystified this perception by pointing out that adopting robotics will add value to governmental projects such as infrastructure (for e.g the use of 3D printed concrete slab and iron bars in building roads and houses) , health delivery(through surgical robots, auto medicine distributors), and environmental monitoring through remote labs and drones..
By 2030, Africa is expected to be home to more than a quarter of the world’s population under 25, and this translates to the need of having an innovation ecosystem anchored in education, research and development. Dr. Ndao emphasized that STEM Education in Africa needs to be contextual, responsive and adaptive.
“The world is changing fast, our African education needs to be responsive to give us a competitive advantage to the rest of the world”- Dr. Ndao
Following the discussion with Dr. Ndao, PARC 2022 Coordinator Ada Tapily presented on the PARC initiative and what is in store for 2022. The competition is structured into three leagues to suit participants of different age and competency levels. PARC 2022 will be held in Dakar Senegal. This year’s challenges will cover water and sanitation (WASH), climate change, hunger eradication, and future of transportation. Calls are open for interested individuals and teams to apply before 28th March 2022.
Certainly there are many challenges in Africa, but initiatives like PARC can spurs Africa to the forefront of technology. This is neither a slogan nor a fad, but the route to create an African innovation footprint for Africa’s growth.
At JOGL, we are building a platform and community to support contributors from around the world as they implement their open science and open tech projects. JOGL Africa is keen to collaborate with stakeholders including researchers, innovators, students, artists, and community leaders to build an open science community to learn and problem-solve challenges together.
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