The Nigeria Internet Group has declared open the
“Internet for Jobs” initiative designed to explore the potential of the
Internet to create jobs for the people.
It is also
aimed at transforming the country into a knowledge society, where
business and government services are available online and the citizens
are positively engaged in knowledge-driven activities.
Every
year, the NIG gives out grants to young and innovative Information
Technology entrepreneurs, who have built web-based solutions that have
the potential of creating thousands of jobs.
The
NIG President, Mr. Bayo Banjo, said on Monday that the group aimed at
identifying good solutions and turning them into great and marketable
solutions with the help of its expert network.
In
view of this, Banjo said the NIG had called for submissions for the 2012
edition of the I4J grant to enable Nigerian Internet entrepreneurs
apply for as much as N1m grant.
He said, “A grant
of N1m will be given to every winner. Once winners have been announced,
they will undergo rigorous entrepreneurial training as well as extensive
mentoring sessions.
“Their solutions will also be
analysed by web-solution experts and a growth plan with milestones and
deliverables will be developed and executed subsequently.”
According
to him, a close monitoring process has been put in place to ensure
funds are used appropriately and with the core focus of growing the
business.
He stressed that a dedicated mentor
would be assigned to every grant recipient to ensure adequate guidance
concentrated on the path of success and job creation.
The
NIG president explained that the criteria for selecting winners
included innovation, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, proof of
concept, versatility, implemented solutions, sustainable concepts,
business models and solutions.
Others, according to him, are collaboration, teamwork and presentation skills, among others.
“This
year, NIG will have a theme and categories within the theme. The theme
for this year’s competition is; ‘Web Solutions for National
Development’,” he said.
The various categories
include e-Commerce/e-Business solutions; mobile web solutions and apps;
e-Government solutions; cloud solutions/software as a service; and
social entrepreneurship solutions.
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