DIGILOGIC at the Policy workshop in Abuja.

On May 18, 2023, Adriano Mauro, the Managing Director of Prototipi, represented DIGILOGIC at a Policy Workshop in Abuja organized by Emerging Communities Africa, an AfriconEU partner.

The workshop aimed to investigate challenges and opportunities for Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in Nigeria, and their collaboration framework locally and internationally.

The workshop saw the presentation of AfriconEU and DIGILOGIC projects, both funded by the European Commission within the context of the Horizon 2020 ICT-58 call. This prompted the development of several projects fostering the collaboration between European and African digital innovation hubs.

The workshop, attended by around 30 participants representing several digital innovation hubs from across the country, also saw the contribution of Ms. Hauwa Ibrahim Hadejia, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPD), who presented the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019, among the most advanced in the continent and serving as blueprint also for other countries (i.e., Kenya).  The representative of the Trademarks, Patents and Designs Registry of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment stressed the importance of patent registration to protect and enhance innovation value.

Adriano, after briefly introducing the envisioned role of DIHs in the EU Africa Digital Innovation Agenda and DIGILOGIC activities, focused his intervention on the challenges and opportunities for DIHs

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First and foremost, economic sustainability
DIHs In Europe rely heavily on public funding and private industries' innovation collaboration  - this is not the case in Africa.

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Hardship in retaining qualified staff 
Highly technically qualified talents are quickly “stolen” by ICT industries.

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Too often DIHs offer soft skills training instead of much-needed specialised ICT
DIHs training and mentoring offering are often too basic for the start-ups, and innovators' needs.

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DIHs still not offering tests before investing in services and challenges connecting innovators with industries 
Test before investment in SMEs and industries that require infrastructure, equipment, and skills DIHs are often lacking.

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DIHs are yet to be specialised
Very few DIHs undertook smart specialisation (i.e., #smartlogistics like DIGILOGIC)

Adriano’s international triggered the discussion among participants who highlighted, among the others:

This discussion confirmed very well-known Nigerian DIH's needs but also showed that some other areas of development, such as: how strengthening Nigerian DIH's exposure to international collaboration (at African and European levels) or how the approach to smart specialisation, seem to be premature and not high in the agenda of most local players.

Know more about Digital Innovation Hubs' relevant initiatives.