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In a much welcome move, global chip maker Intel has partnered with technology business incubation space, iHub to support the African developer community through targeted investments in mobile app development, online developer resources, university training programs, device seeding programs and expansion of technology hubs.
Danie Steyn, general manager of Intel East Africa, said the company’s goal was to enable applications from Africa for the Android market place in 2013, with the primary areas of focus being education, rich media, and gaming.
“Our engagement will not only be around educating the developer community, but we’ll also run a series of hackathons across Africa network in partnership with iHub,” said Steyn.
Steyn said Intel was extremely excited about the growing developer engagement in Africa, and is deeply committed to helping the African software ecosystem grow and thrive.
Erik Hersman the MD at iHub praised the move by Intel to support the continent’s software development.
He said, “The software development scene in Africa is active but still nascent, we’re excited to partner with Intel to grow it.”
iHub, based in Nairobi with now over 10,000 members has been at the forefront of stiring innovation on the continent and its model has been replicated by over 30 other tech hubs on the continent. iHub enjoys the big brother role in Africa’s innovation and its relationship with the other hubs and provision of thought leadership in areas of mobile technology and its use can not be overlooked.
Intel will provide broadly available developer training through iHub and Intel’s Developer Zone, an online developer resource that enables the creation and porting of Android apps in Kenya.
Intel will also distribute Intel Android devices to the tech hubs, and will work with select universities in Africa to enhance the ability of developers to create rich user experiences on Intel hardware with Android.
iHub will work with 10 universities in Kenya, and host 30 events targeted at software associations, independent software vendors and in the first year.
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