Nigerian foundation wins competition for bridging tech gap among PWDs

Data-Lead Africa Foundation (DLAF) has emerged as one of the winners of the 2023 Uplink Corporate Change makers Challenge, for its innovative approach to bridging the gap between the deaf community and the technology industry in Africa.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Nkpecha Franklin, Head of Operations, Data-Lead Africa, on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said that the DLAF’s Deaf-In-Tech project, which won the challenge, organised by the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurship, was recognised based on its ability to contribute to social and environmental equity.

He said that the project is an ed-tech inclusion programme focused on strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, data analytics, higher education and employment.

“It seems to close the existing skills gap among marginalised people, particularly people living with disabilities (PWDs).

PWDs are one of the key marginalised groups

“In low and middle income countries, PWDs are one of the key marginalised groups, while many initiatives have focused on gender equality and racial diversity, initiatives working to improve inclusion of PWDs are abysmally low.

“DLAF has created the first tech community of deaf people in Africa, with over 200 deaf persons learning and working on different tech and innovative solutions,” he said.

Credit: (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)