Einstein is CEO at Global Startup Ecosystem one of the first
digital accelerator education startups. He is a partner at
Africa Future Fund investing in initiatives across Africa and the
diaspora that leverage advanced technologies to “leapfrog”
Africa’s future. He has also launched tech summits across
emerging markets in Haiti and Ghana.
Education fundamentally serves to illuminate and liberate,
bring awareness to a situation, inform and transform one’s
perspective. Education provides a bright spot that spreads
to illuminate and liberate in order to empower an individual
to improve their environment, their community and lead to a
transformation of his or her life. This has been our sole goal; to
help people appreciate the very opportunities that lie at one’s
fingertips or understand that new ones can be created.
Data suggests that smartphone penetration continues to grow
rapidly – within the next 4 years there will be an increase from
a 60% mobile phone penetration to 95% even in low income
nations. As it stands, many people across Haiti, Africa, India, the
Caribbean, South America and many more places are unable
to make ends meet but have smartphones which are often just
used for basic entertainment such as social media. However,
these smartphones can be used to learn new skills, conduct
research, learn from diverse economies across the world and
also to tap into the global market. These platforms also help to
gain access to teachers, mentors and guides who can illuminate
people’s lives and educate for the future.
Education also provides the avenue to affect the moral wellbeing
of people or individuals living in a country. Good education
helps the individual to identify what is morally right and good
for the complete development of humanity. This helps reduce
the chances of civil wars and conflicts which occur as a result of
the lack of, or because of, inadequate education.
Education transcends skills development and the provision for
economic empowerment. It helps to reduce gender inequality,
increases support for people in trauma or in need of mental
health care. It also facilitates understanding and appreciation
of entertainment, design, the arts and the like. Collectively this
shows that by increasing an individual’s ability to gain education,
the illumination it provides raises that person’s standard of
living, joy and overall growth and development.
A lot of progress has been made towards achieving SDG 4 as
globally as more people are literate across the board even in
remote areas. However, the key area that has not been keenly
addressed is the digital divide because of the rapid growth of
technology and the dependence on technological proficiency
in this modern age. This is why it is significant that in order
to achieve SDG 4, education in technology has to be a key
component. This will equip individuals with the requisite skills
needed in most jobs.
That is why the building of strong tech hubs via the Haiti Tech
Summit and Haiti Tech has led to such a rapid transformation in
the lives of so many; the building of vital training mechanisms
has served to liberate and enlighten people. Such a strong
push towards building tech ecosystems and hubs across
emerging markets has served to bring global thought leaders
in technology and innovation to Haiti. This initiative and project
helps train people in digital skills locally, whilst educating
international leaders about the opportunities available in
Haiti and its increasing readiness to be part of technological
innovation worldwide.
Believing that education alone is not enough but rather the need for appropriate education which is relevant for context
and time is one of the objectives of Haiti Tech Summit. This is why education around technology is paramount even for the
basics of work. We have endeavoured to help teach people across emerging markets and emerging communities ; the power of leveraging education in technology in order to build the appropriate skills. Haiti is proof of where many young people, people from very underprivileged backgrounds and even people with limited literacy, have been taught how to go on education platforms on their phones to do courses, how to do basic design work, how to research and how to provide services to a global market which can pay for such skills and service.
In a world where there is so much abundance, the missing link is how people can access the right information. This can be achieved through education, which helps people to learn. Leveraging technology helps provide high quality education and opportunities no matter which part of the country people or individuals find themselves. This provides a platform which can train teachers and they can also train the youth and pass on the information to them. The problem often is access to quality and appropriate education. The core mission for the Global Startup Ecosystem has been to increase access to people and through our digital platforms we have been able to train people across remote regions so long as they have access to a phone and connectivity. We saw with the global startup ecosystem that the best way of providing access to experts is through technology.
Within three years we have been able to help transform Haiti into one of the leading tech hubs and ecosystems of the Caribbean. Haiti now has the largest programming and developer communities in the region who have been educated to code and build platforms, websites, applications and more that help empower people and enterprises in the region. The belief that education has to serve the young, the old and be appropriate for the modern day and the future has been a core driver for us. This belief is the biggest reason we have been able to achieve so much so quickly. We are collectively educating over 6000 people in Haiti alone with our programs around technology, promoting understanding of the future of work, helping them gain new skills to reduce the level of unemployment, increasing literacy, female recruitment, self-empowerment and access to a wider global audience to further increase the propensity of continuous learning.
We have found education to be a catalyst to solve issues across all the rest of the SDGs from economic empowerment, gender equality, health, poverty and much more. This has been witnessed firsthand by seeing how relevant education around technology and access to technology has led to the lives of many people in Haiti and across the world being transformed through the programs and access we tirelessly work to provide. It has been an uplifting journey seeing less privileged people have their lives liberated through education and those with resources have their world views focused on regions that
have traditionally been relegated and not properly considered.
From Engage issue 20.
