By Okechukwu Onuegbu
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) Igbariam, Wednesday, entered partnership with Bliss Team Educational Services Limited (Bredhub-UbTech) to train students of the Anambra State government owned citadel of learning on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Education.
The University Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Kate Omenugha, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the principal officers of Bredhub-UbTech in her office, described the development as an opportunity to inculcate modern technologies skills into both the students and staff of COOU.
"We key into this because there are so many things we will learn. It will also be opened to outside community too, including drugs addicts with a view to keeping them busy and change their psychy so that they can become more productive to society. Part of what we do here is community service to both our internal and external publics," she added.
Also speaking, the Managing Director (MD), Anambra State Information Communication Technology Agency (ICT), Mr Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata said the MoU was in line with Governor Chukwuma Soludo's manifesto to review the State educational curriculum and allow students to learn coding, AI, Robotics, among others.
Agbata, who was delighted that COOU had keyed into the innovation, contended that the institution would play a leading role in energising the Anambra tech drive that Governor Soludo's administration was anchored on.
"So its no coincidence that we are here today to flag off this initiative where students of COOU will have a good time with real-time Robot that is disrupting the world. The university system must continue to play an important role, akin to the revolution played by Stanford University that birthed Silicon Valley, one of the top tech capitals in the world."
Earlier, the MD Bredhub and representative of UbTech in Nigeria and some part of Africa, Mr Ahamefula Michael, said the tech giant was into transfer of knowledge, artificial intelligence and robotics through research and innovation.
"People from all over the world are waiting for the products of this university to be compatible to their system. We also encourage students to start innovating by giving them opportunities to work for companies outside Nigeria, access jobs online and paid reprogramming.
"Research and innovation can now start from here. The programme goes by block, scratch, CEC Plus, Plus and Python and engage in different kinds of projects in programming untill they start creating solutions for real life problems. The students get to set exam for themselves
"Since it is difficult to jump from Analogue to Industrial Revolution, this opportunity will give the students the leap to join the next generation of revolution. So as Artificial Intelligence is coming up, you have to up your knowledge of AI and robotics so that you can live in a society under the current 4th Industrial Revolution.
"We are creating industrial revolution in this part of the world. Because we will produce students with the real knowledge of channeling our problems to a solution mixer and then you have a solution. We bring all the knowledge all over the world for students can access. The Mou is to bring those things in developing countries from those experiencing Industrial Revolution.
"We bring the curriculum, equipment and materials, learn faster from what they had researched from, reducing our time of learning and nip into the innovation stage. People who passes through the modules we have in our curriculum, will receive certification based on jobs and works completed," he maintained.
The teams after signing the MOU converged at Faculty of Social Sciences Complex of COOU where students were allowed to experience robots and also learn how to program them.
Speaking in separate interviews, some of the students trainees, Afokwalam Delight and Justice Onuegbu, expressed optimism that they would learn the skills despite that it was difficult with a view to explore their inherent opportunities in the world.