Can the real geeks please stand up
It seems the tide has well and truly turned for geeks. What was once associated with slightly off-centre, non-mainstream eccentricism has taken on a whole new meaning in modern age, digital geek culture.
Today, the word geek conjures images of cool, upwardly mobile, highly connected young people with a Mac machine over the shoulder and a Starbucks or energy drink in the hand, on their way to spend the night in a hackathon.
Just the frame cut by tech enthusiast and vibrant tech entrepreneur Mixo Ngovheni. Founder and Chief Geek at Geekulcha, which creates and enables platforms for innovation and creativity while exposing young talent and skills to the corporate world.
Geekulcha is a new improved version of what Mixo started as INNOvatorz.IT, an organisation whose mandate was to marry two sides. IT students who need a place to upskill and opportunity to practice their craft with corporates and industry who need a strong STEM skills pipeline to meet their skills needs.
Geekulcha has come a long way since the name change in 2013, with a string of accolades and awards including an ICT Achievers Award and a BBQ Award, demonstrating the impact that they have had and continue to have on the tech ecosystem in South Africa.
It is rare to see a bunch of people so single minded in their pursuit to build a strong Geek Culture in South Africa and Africa and to realize a state of more producers than consumers of tech among young people. Based at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria, Mixo, together with his top team, including Tiyani Nghonyama the COO and Sina Legong the GM, criss cross the country empowering young geeks through their multiple programmes.
These include:
Suffice to say, the need for students and other young people to be competitive in the tech field is obvious, primarily to leverage technology to develop leapfrog solutions that will catapult Africa into the 4th industrial revolution. This is an enormous endeavour, particularly in the context of an educational landscape that is lacking in the skill areas that tech companies value, which are science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
This is what motivated us at Southern Africa Startup Awards to include a category for Best Student Startup, to recognise startups founded and run by students, put them on a global platform and inspire thousands more to create a critical mass of innovative thinkers to take us into the future.
Interestingly, although younger consumers are considered early and keen adopters of technology, interacting with, wearing, and engaging with technology, many are either reluctant or fearful of the notion of being involved in the creation and innovation of trendy tech, rather than only in the consumption of it. Some may even believe that STEM fields are out of reach for them based on their socio economic circumstances.
Not withstanding the challenges that the country and the continent face with regards to our capacity to deliver world class STEM education, an important consideration for the inclusion of STEM in mainstream popular culture is to package it and and the career paths associated with it as “cool” among the younger generation. Something Geekultcha is certainly not lacking in. Their reading on the cool meter is something to be marveled.
For over 5 years now, Geekulcha has been standing up, reshaping the ICT scene in South Africa and changing the lot for high school learners, university students and young women in IT. So we were honoured when they agreed to partner with us to mobilise within their neck of the startup ecosystem to make sure that those startups and their supporters who are doing fantastic things get spotted and recognised.
Knowing of course that if there is any hope that we as a region will enter along with the rest of the world into the new era of the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Biotech, and robotics, we have no other option but to groom the remarkable talent that sits in our high schools and universities and get them ready to create.
There are a lot of people within Africa who are doing some really cool and interesting stuff. That gives me hope for the future of the continent and also for our very own country. We need to create local solutions for local problems. The time is now — Mixo Ngoveni
It is an exceptional honour to be in partnership with Geekulcha. The startup ecosystem in our region is grateful to you for being #StartupSuperheroes.
Geekultcha can be contacted on their website and on twitter, facebook, and instagram.
