African Women in Tech & AI Program. Crédit: MAP
The Summer Camp of the second cohort of the African Women in Tech & AI Program (AWITAI) was launched on Monday at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, for the benefit of women from 28 African countries.
This initiative aims to pave the way for African women in the fields of technology, innovation and artificial intelligence (AI), all in a friendly atmosphere.
Through strategic partnerships between the OCP Foundation, the AI Movement of UM6P and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the program aims to equip women with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to initiate positive changes in their communities.
During this Summer Camp, 80 participants will have the opportunity to network and participate in training workshops and specialized courses led by researchers and experts. They will then present their projects during a pitch competition in front of a jury composed of members of the three partner institutions.
At the end of this competition, some candidates will be selected for the incubation and acceleration phase of their projects.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, the executive president of the International Center for Artificial Intelligence of Morocco, AI Movement, under UM6P, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, affirmed that AI contributes to reducing cultural, economic, gender, social, cognitive, and technological inequalities and to combating violence, discrimination and climate change.
“All industries will be completely transformed by intelligent technologies and 67% of employees expect AI to create opportunities in their work,” El Fallah Seghrouchni said, indicating that regulations and competitive pressures require companies to be more responsive to offer more agile and personalized services that transform market standards.
The applications of AI are vast, ranging from healthcare with improved diagnostics, to finance with algorithmic trading and fraud detection, to government, defense, security, energy, smart cities, automated transportation and education with serious games and tailored training, the AI expert argued.
Regarding employment, the executive president of AI Movement noted that the demand for employment is growing for profiles such as data analysts, AI and machine learning specialists, big data experts, digital marketing and strategy specialists, process automation experts, business development professionals, digital transformation specialists, information security analysts, software and application developers, and Internet of Things experts.
So, “The potential impact of AI on the global economy is estimated at $15.7 trillion by 2030, with a projected growth of 14% driven by AI,” revealed the expert, adding that 90% of global leaders expect AI to have a positive impact on growth.
For her part, the Senior Consultant for Priority Africa and External Relations of UNESCO, Magalie Lebreton-Traoré, noted that the three institutions have joined forces within the framework of a partnership for the African women in tech and AI program.
The goal, she said, is to train and support, over three years, 150 African women who are leading AI entrepreneurial projects that can help address African challenges in various areas such as health, education, agriculture and the environment.
This project is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aimed at contributing to the development and transformation of the African continent, Lebreton-Traoré noted.
Ai Mouvement – UM6P is a Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence that aims to promote the emergence of Moroccan expertise in artificial intelligence and data sciences and to anticipate and support developments and transformations related to AI and data sciences.
