PIN PROJECTS

Paradigm Initiative Nigeria undertakes projects that build on the development opportunities that Information and Communication Technologies provide. PIN partners with numerous organisations within and outside Nigeria to deliver bottom-up, solution-driven and community-owned projects -- especially in communities where ICT solutions can make tremedous impact. PIN's objective for any project it undertakes is to improve people's livelihoods -- through the appropriate use of ICTs. Some of our projects are profiled below:

Ajegunle.org

Ajegunle.org is a model that we have designed to create better livelihoods – through ICT opportunities, entrepreneurship training and short-term internships – for young people in Nigeria’s underserved areas. The project website is www.ajegunle.org and we are glad to have been able to commence pre-project work on other areas of Lagos State (Obalende, FESTAC, etc). We also invite you to view the project video (as captured by Nigeria International and screened in various countries) on CNN’s iReport at www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-14359. Famous, like many other young people in Nigeria's most popular slum, was not sure of what tomorrow held for him. Now, he works at the Visa Section of the British High Commission in Abuja thanks to his participation in the Ajegunle.org project. Funke, another project participant, grew her business of N2,000 by over 2,000% after the training. The project is also helping to change the perception of the Ajegunle community, as shown through the inclusion of the project’s details on the popular Wikipedia website or search results through internet search engines.

We are working towards the replication of the idea beyond Ajegunle, and are also keen on establishing the Ajegunle Innovation Centre (AJIC). The AJIC will serve as a knowledge hub where more youth from the community can be empowered for the world of work. It will serve the purposes of training, incubation and service provision:
(a) Training: Providing a space for the Ajegunle.org training program and a centre for the advancement of workplace preparedness for Ajegunle's youth;
(b) Incubation: We will provide workspaces for the entrepreneurs that we train so that they can overcome the infrastructure barrier and have a place where they can walk into and work to provide their services towards income generation and wealth creation. The incubator will be designed to encourage productivity within a specified period of time;
(c) Services: The centre will also be a place where community members can get services such as photocopy, fax, etc, as a form of income generation startegy to sustain the centre. The centre will be served by our graduates so they can also benefit from immediate employment opportunities while they in turn provide the centre with low-cost manpower. Our ultimate goal is for the centre to become a major outsourcing hotspot in Africa!

Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (ISSPIN)

The challenge of making the internet as safe has informed the need to raise awareness through a social campaign that involves sensitization workshops in selected schools, a one-day event and deliberate follow-up project. The annual social campaign will direct the spotlight to the issue of internet safety while also providing a platform for other industry players to work together. The expected outcomes for the 12-month strategy include sensitization workshops in pre-selected schools across Nigeria, a one-day event that will draw attention to the issue of internet safety while also providing a platform for stakeholders to work together and a follow up plan. The follow-up plan will specifically focus on the need to reduce the number of youth that engage in activities that threaten the safety of the internet (a.k.a Yahoo! Yahoo! Boys/Girls). This follow-up project will be built on lessons from best practice efforts that address social ills and it will include a 4-phase process: recruitment, training, internships and business innovation. The recruitment process will seek to identify youth who are engaged in cyber-crime and they will then be trained to use software development tools before being attached to various software companies for 3-month internships. Based on these, the youth will then be encouraged to either seek employment within the software (or relevant) industry or work as independent software developers. The process will also include a mentorship component that allows the interns to benefit beyond technical skills.

Non-Profit Employee Motivation Program (NEMP)

The role of non-profit organizations in developing economies’ socio-economic development cannot be downplayed. However, younger staffs of non-profits (like staff of any other institution) need continuous capacity building for improved productivity. After careful consideration for a major need we have seen in the non-profit space in terms of employee motivation, and following some successful work done in this regard, we see the strong need for this Non-profit Employee Motivation Program (NEMP). NEMP is geared towards achieving overall increased productivity of staff of non-profits in Nigeria (especially those whose works primarily target youth in underserved areas) while it seeks to motivate employees for better organizational productivity and towards Personal Development within organization's career space; introduce employees to the win-win scenarios in organizational growth; encourage employees to move from local actors to glocal (think global, act local) players; and give maximum value to donor funding and organizational capacity building.

Dare To Be BIG

The Dare To Be BIG (“BIG” is acronym for “Brightest ICT Guy/Girl”) project -- which has now been endorsed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) -- will bring learning opportunities, positive peer pressure and excitement to Nigerian youth through a year-long series of activities that include Road Shows, a Reality TV Show and Advocacy Campaign. The project is a collaborative effort between Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and other partners. The Road Shows will hold, in partnership with local television stations, on selected campuses across the six (6) geo-political zones of Nigeria and will feature seminars and publicity for the Dare To Be BIG TV show. The show itself will showcase the potential use of ICTs in everyday life, corporations and public institutions through a competition that features twelve (12) young contestants who will seek to become Nigeria’s Brightest ICT Guy/Girl through ICT-enabled tasks, team work and guidance from mentors. The top three winners of the competition will be trained and are expected to lead an Advocacy Campaign that will take them to various locations (within and outside Nigeria) where they will serve as ICT Youth Ambassadors who will serve as role models to their fellow youth.

The project builds on various exciting models and will use the expertise of project promoters, mentors and sponsors to achieve its desired objectives, which include: increasing awareness on the positive role of ICTs in everyday life, corporations and public institutions; promoting unique opportunities that ICTs provide among young Nigerians so that they can improve their lives; providing educational content on television for Nigerians; showcasing Africa’s budding ICT talents through a 13-week broadcast of the TV show across selected global TV networks; allowing Nigerians to decide who Nigeria’s Brightest ICT Guy/Girl is, through audience participation in the reality TV show; and raising funds for the establishment of Innovation/Incubation Centers for young Nigerians (an effort that will promote entrepreneurship, reduce unemployment/poverty rates and improve the nation’s economy).