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About Us

What is Africa IoT & AI Challenge and Why It Matters?

Africa IoT & AI Challenge is a regional program for entrepreneurs that have innovative startup ideas in the areas of the Internet of Things (IoT) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related fields to enable and leverage a smart future. The challenge is not just a competition, it’s a digital transformation movement, that’s why it delivers training and camps to the participants and provides them with all the needed support. After the training and mentorship camp, participants compete in the Africa finals which will be held at the 2023 GITEX Africa, Morocco.

The challenge is co-organized by several national and international partners like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with its dedicated society for Technology and Engineering Management (IEEE TEMS), and different universities, corporates and governmental entities in Africa. The program unites the resources and experiences of the organizers and their respective partners to avail all the required materials, mentors and expertise to the participating projects.

Neither the Internet of Things (IoT) nor the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in general are new; tech companies and pundits have been discussing the idea for decades, until the first internet-connected toaster was unveiled at a conference back in 1989. Although the concept wasn't named until 1999, IoT has been in development for the past years. For example, the Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine!

Although most of the countries in Africa are still struggling on different levels, they are trying to step up in the technology and development fields as a means to fight poverty and health issues, especially after the pandemic outbreak in 2020. Building technical capabilities and youth capacity in Industry 4.0 will help develop the continent infrastructure and save its next generations. The Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence are mainly a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. It is a mindset transformation with endless opportunities and sky-passing potential.

Our History

The challenge was first launched in Egypt in 2016 by Intel Corporation in collaboration with the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It then expanded to become the Arab IoT and AI Challenge, including 12 Arab countries. And now, Africa is connected! Africa IoT and AI Challenge started last year with 6 participating countries: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Uganda. This year we have 25 participating countries, with 19 more African countries participating this year.

Our Vision

The Internet of Things and the Artificial Intelligence are the next evolution that will dramatically change the existing industries. Corporates and big technology providers, as well as governments, will put significant efforts into developing solutions for their customers which will allow them to get developed and to improve their skills and capabilities. We believe that the time is ripe for the industry to embrace open innovation to accelerate the transformations that these technologies will bring and how this will impact the ICT industry in Africa and the world.

Our Mission

The challenge is on a mission to stimulate an innovation-based economy in Africa through strategizing, facilitating, and promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creation of intellectual property in AIoT and its applications. The challenge is working on building the youth capabilities for the digital transformation era in Africa, and identifying the potential investment-ready tech-based startups in the continent.

Unleash Your Potential and Join the Challenge to be Crowned One of the
Top 25 Startups in Africa from 25 Different Countries!

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