Today while breezing through my tech news spot I found out that Microsoft Affordable Access initiative grants recipients seed funding, mentorship and access to a network of peers to help them pilot and scale their solutions.
According to the blogger, areas of interest include last-mile internet access technologies, including the use of TV White Spaces and other forms of internet connectivity solutions, energy access for off-grid communities and Internet of Things (IoT) for agriculture. He wrote that, the goal is to deliver internet and energy access, and to create economic and academic opportunities as a result.
This year’s African recipients are Kukua Weather Services (Uganda), Solaris Offgrid (Tanzania), Standard Microgrid (Zambia), SunCulture (Kenya), VisionNet (Democratic Republic of Congo) and WrightGrid (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Grant recipients also receive Microsoft BizSpark, Microsoft’s development and test software that includes Azure, Windows, Visual Studio, Office and SQL Server. BizSpark comes with access to hundreds of free training classes and other technical content.
They also gain access to Microsoft Philanthropies, which provides digital literacy, online safety and computer science education programmes in communities in which Affordable Access Initiative grants are given.
“We’re inspired by our grantees’ passion to bring internet and energy access, and the economic benefits that flow from it, to parts of the world that need it most,” said Paul Garnett, senior director of Microsoft’s Affordable Access Initiatives. “It’s our privilege to support the work of innovators helping to improve their communities.”
VisionNet, one of the DRC recipients, uses cloud-managed Wi-Fi to provide low-cost internet access to rural university students, individuals and nongovernmental organisations. Founder Alex Okuonzi Bahati said he is determined to increase internet accessibility and affordability after his own frustrating experiences in secondary school.
Check Disrupt Africa for more on this gist.
Check Disrupt Africa for more on this gist.
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