• Forge Academy & Labs together with Nokia have been nominated for the Changing Lives Award at the Africa Tech Festival Awards.
• The awards recognise organisations and initiatives that enable transformation, inclusivity and digital democracy on the African continent.
• The awards take place at Africa Tech Festival on 9th November and voting closes today.

From 7th to 11th November the Africa Tech Festival takes place in Cape Town. This event – which AfricaCom is a part of – sees heavyweights in the telecommunications and connectivity sectors descend upon the Cape Town International Convention Centre to discuss the future of technology on the continent.

One of the highlights of the event are the Africa Tech Festival Awards. These awards seek to recognise the innovators who enable transformation, inclusivity and digital democracy across the African continent.

The awards cover a variety of areas including Connectivity Project of the Year, CXO of the Year, and (the focus of today’s story) the Changing Lives Award.

“This award recognises organisations and initiatives that have made a significant contribution to helping us build a more accessible and inclusive digital world,” reads a blurb on the Africa Tech Festival Awards website.

Among the nominees for this award is Forge Academy & Labs and Nokia.

Together the academy and Nokia have implemented a three-year programme that “successfully addresses the goals of economic inclusion through access to educational pathways linked to 4IR, employment and small business support.”

The academy is just two years old and was founded by Arthur Anderson and Craig Clutty. The institution facilitates education in 3D printing, VR and AR, digital marketing and 5G.

“Congratulations to the team for being nominated only two years after our launch. It goes to show what can get done in a short period with the right partners, passionate team members and a heart to drive and witness true transformation. We have only just begun, and the future looks bright,” said chief operating officer at Forge Academy and Labs, Craig Clutty.

One of the academy’s features highlighted by Africa Tech Festival is its 5G Futures Lab. The lab is based on Nokia’s 5G Futures Lab in Sydney, Australia. It allows for the development, testing and demonstration of 5G use cases in the field.

Importantly, it enables skills development in technologies that underpin the Fourth Industrial revolution.

“Nokia has always prioritised ensuring that countries get equipped for the fourth industrial revolution. The build of the 5G Futures Lab with Forge Academy ensures we build the skills and opportunities to do just that,” says Pat Wiehahn, head of strategic relations and transformation at Nokia.

The competition in this award category is rather fierce. The other nominees include:

• SeamlessHR and Special Olympics Nigeria,
• Hormund Telecom,
• Project Isizwe,
• M-KOPA,
• The Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation,
• ANSI: Smart Villages For Rural Growth and Financial Inclusion Project for Niger.

Voting for these awards closes today so if you want to support one of the projects head to this link. The award ceremony takes place on 9th November at 18:00.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]