Boris Bison Youth Empowerment Business Incubator in Douala, Cameroon, otherwise known as the BB Incubator, and a video game publishing company Ludique Works along with Start North, the Finnish technology learning accelerator network, have announced a partnership that will introduce their technologically advanced learning environments, the 5G Mokki Tech Spaces, across the Afrikan continent. The partnership announcement follows the opening ceremony of BB Incubator in Douala.
BB Incubator provides office space, computer equipment services, internet connectivity, entrepreneurial training, and business advisory services to promising local startup companies and young entrepreneurs.
“Our aim is a Pan-African tech space network that connects the African continent to Europe and the rest of the world, promoting the learning and adoption of technology, remote work, and entrepreneurship. In addition to promoting education, jobs, and the economic development of the regions, the network also aims to curb climate change by utilizing the latest technology," said Boris Ngala, Founder, and CEO of BB Incubator and one of the Co-Founders of the 5G Mokki Tech Space network.
The first to adopt 5G Mokki Tech Spaces
Cameroon's BB Incubator is the first of its kind in Afrika to adopt the 5G Mokki Tech Spaces, a high-tech learning and communication environment in the shape of a small cottage. Mokki is derived from the Finnish word ‘mökki’, meaning cottage. The cottage enables innovative uses of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication technology.
The incubator can be used to develop software applications that require ultra-fast internet connections, to render immersive, three-dimensional (3D), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) learning experiences, as well as to deliver innovative services and remote work to corporations around the globe. One of the partners, Ludique Works is deploying the cottages in Kenya and South Africa and is committing to building a network of 5G Mokki Tech Spaces in other Afrikan countries as well.
"The 5G Mokki Tech Space network has the ability to serve international and local companies, to provide creative-economy and technology based jobs and promote entrepreneurship based on the learning of the latest technology and hands-on projects that serve local conditions. Furthermore, this is supported by extensive national and international collaboration with universities and companies," said Douglas Ogeto, Co-Founder and CEO of Ludique Works and one of the Co-Founders of the 5G Mokki Tech Space network.
"In addition to promoting education, jobs, and the economic development of the regions, the network also aims to curb climate change by utilizing the latest technology."
Technology that provides advanced learning environments
The 5G Mokki Tech Spaces aim to hit several birds with one stone by providing the technology that enables advanced learning environments with remote connectivity, as well as to offer learning solution content, starting in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship.
The 5G Mokki Tech Spaces are being developed by Start North, a Finnish accelerator network that aims to promote the learning and application of new technologies to meet the challenges of global sustainable development. The concept was pioneered by leading Finnish universities.
One of those is Aalto University, which is among the world’s top institutions in research and education of 5G technologies. As part of a co-innovation process with Nokia, the mobile communications technology giant, Aalto launched its Summer School in 2019 to involve students in creating real-life 5G applications. The Summer School produced the 5G Mökki with input from Start North, who was subsequently tasked to take the concept abroad.
— By Tefo Mohapi
