The BSV Blockchain Association and BSV Academy are proud to announce a new partnership with financial firm CapitalSavvy to bring its Blockchain Innovation Programme to developers in Uganda and other parts of East Africa.
The Blockchain Innovation Programme is a 10-week course designed to encourage more people to become Bitcoin developers. The BSV Academy is offering this programme to any partner interested in incorporating it into their education toolset. One such partner is CapitalSavvy, a venture capital investment firm in Uganda, which is trying to bring opportunities to local developers to help them find employment.
The initial cohort of the programme will include some 50 developers in Uganda, who will also have the chance to pitch their ideas to Satoshi Block Dojo. At the end of the 10-week programme, the developer who gives the best pitch will be selected to join the incubator.
‘Our target is young entrepreneurs who are tech savvy and have some experience with Javascript and the like. We hope to take them through a 10-week programme where we introduce them to core modules where they will be able to pick a skill and develop projects on the BSV blockchain,’ said Reginald Tumusiime, CEO and Founder of CapitalSavvy.
‘On one end, the BSV Blockchain Association allows us to have practical modules that impart the right hardcore developer skills to these entrepreneurs. Then you have the Satoshi Block Dojo at the other end that sort of exploits these abilities and gives them further support and funding.’
What’s the Blockchain Innovation Programme offers Ugandan developers
Tumusiime said the programme will be fully online, with all students given access to a learning portal that has been developed by the BSV Academy. In addition to the online learning experience, physical meetups will take place every two weeks where the students will get to meet each and have the opportunity to have a live Q&A with some of the facilitators of the course.
The programme has been fully sponsored by CapitalSavvy, the BSV Blockchain Association and Satoshi Block Dojo, with students only expected to pay a $50 application fee. He added that the groups plan to make the programme self-sustaining in the future and expand beyond Uganda into other parts of East Africa.
The programme is comprised of the three primitive courses currently offered by the BSV Academy, including:
The programme will also offer a new Intro to Bitcoin Development course, said Julie Gaudreau, Project Manager of TSC and Technical Programs at the BSV Blockchain Association.
While the course is open to everyone, a basic understanding of coding is helpful as users will be working with Golang and JavaScript throughout the programme. Students are also expected to have a basic understanding of Bitcoin theory, Gaudreau said. Certificates are awarded each time that a student completes a course, with a full certification offered by the BSV Academy at the end of the programme.
Growing the next generation of BSV developers
Tumusiime said that the 50 developers that form part of the initial cohort will be able to take the skills they have acquired and use them to either start their own businesses or join businesses.
‘Looking around the globe, specific skill sets around being able to code any given blockchain are still rare. We continuously outsource these functions to people, so as the adoption of real use cases of blockchain across the globe grows, there will be an opportunity for anyone to tap into this demand,’ he said.
‘The evolution of work-from-home has also led to the globalisation of talent. So someone sitting in Uganda, Kenya or elsewhere in East Africa wouldn’t have the opportunity to work somewhere else but now there is. With these specialised skill sets, we believe there will be an opportunity to tap into employers’.
Tumusiime said the BSV blockchain was chosen by the group as there are few other protocols which are focused on enterprise-grade solutions. He added that the blockchain has done a lot to provide the right environment to be able to scale different enterprises.
The programme is set to launch on 2 September with a physical meetup, with the actual start date set for 3 October. You can find out more about the Blockchain Innovation Programme here.