Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) Namibia recently hosted a series of activities in Windhoek that were coined as Ecosystem Week. CcHUB, which initially originated in Nigeria, was launched in Namibia last year with the aim to accelerate the growth of the local startup ecosystem, foster entrepreneurship and drive innovation.
“The Ecosystem Week aims to strengthen the Namibian local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and also play a key role in assisting CcHUB in implementing its key objective in Namibia by implementing innovative programmes that speak to challenges of the Namibian market, creating collaborations and partnerships with similar interest in fostering innovation in Namibia,” said Elizabeth John-Hasheela, Programme Manager at CcHUB Namibia.
One of the highlights of the week was a workshop on Human-Centred Design (HCD), which emphasised empathy, ideation and rapid prototyping as essential components of innovation. Participants were equipped with the skills and mindset needed to apply HCD methods effectively in their projects, driving meaningful and impactful
innovation.
The Windhoek event was facilitated by CcHUB’s managing partner Oluwaseun Adepoju, who said; “the willingness to learn and the collaborative spirit exhibited by the innovators who attended the workshop was mind-blowing.
I am convinced that a viable seed of innovation for data driven and people-centred problem solving has been planted in the ecosystem, and I can’t wait to see seed germination through scalable product developments.”
The Ecosystem Week was followed with a government, industry and academia (GIA) forum, which brought together stakeholders from government, private sector and academia to discuss the future of innovation in Namibia.
The event focused on establishing linkages between government stakeholders, industry stakeholders and academia.
Key stakeholders in attendance included Dr Anna Matros-Goreses (PhD), the executive director of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Partnerships at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Dino Balotti, the executive director of small business development, innovation and acceleration at the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), Lovisa Immanuel, general manager for Innovation and Technology in Development at NCRST, Valme Kruge, an enterprise and SME development committee member at the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Yolanda Kalenga, chief legal officer of the High Court of Namibia.
The event was spearheaded by Jude Adejuwon, practice lead of High Economic Intelligence (HEI) Innovation Practice who stated: “At the heart of thriving innovation ecosystems all over the world is collaboration within the triple helix – government, industry and academia - and it is great to see that stakeholders in Namibia are engraving the need for fruitful collaboration. I can’t wait to begin to see the gains from all of these engagements, and it’s just a matter of time”.
The visiting team from Co-Creation Hub also met with local start-ups, innovation hubs, government ministries and parastatals to gather insight into practical applications of innovative strategies in various sectors. These visits aimed to assess challenges and gaps in the ecosystem, and identify opportunities for collaboration and support.