Thirty students have been trained in software development by the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, RAIL KNUST.

This initiative, under the aegis of the SHECodes Club, is in collaboration with the Women in Engineering, WinE, and KNUST chapter. It is meant to empower students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the digital age.

Addressing the gathering of the SHECodes cohort 2 club challenge and graduation ceremony, Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, the Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lab, RAIL KNUST challenged the students to help in the accelerated development of the country.

“It is important as we prepare ourselves for the future. We intentionally make it a point to spend money to build capacities as far as coding is concerned. When you are given a laptop and phone, don't watch movies, spend time doing things related to robotics, AI and coding because that's where the future lies. That's why avenues like this are created so the skills you’ve acquired as far as coding is concerned are channelled towards solving a problem in society. Education is only meaningful and is directed to solving a particular problem,” he said.

He also encouraged stakeholders to champion digitalization in the Senior High Schools.

“Let us do this together because that’s where the future is and we must recognize we are all co-collaborators as far as this initiative is concerned. If KNUST is leading this charge but the schools, students, government and stakeholders do not see the vision with us we will have a problem and that is the reason we need to make sacrifices to secure the future as far as our children are concerned,” he said.

Dr Eunice Akyereko Adjei, the Women in Technology theme lead for RAIL was optimistic about nurturing successful start-ups.

“We look forward to coming up with startups that students can join and open companies and entrepreneurship. Coding without a product is not meaningful.

“Our main aim is to look for potential projects that can be moved to the next stage. We will together with the students incubate ideas under the innovation centre of the college and push the project further till it comes out as a full-blown product that can be sent to the market, “she said.

She also called on all tertiary institutions interested in SheCodes to leverage the opportunity for collaboration and support.

Dr Eunice Akyereko Adjei, along with instructors including Musah Ibrahim, Toufiq Musah and others, guided the students through a comprehensive coding course, with a focus on Python programming.

Participants had the opportunity to showcase their prototypes through group presentations, highlighting their ability to develop and facilitate experiences.