Government through the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance has rolled out the second phase of the National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP), calling eligible Ugandan innovators to submit their applications.
NIISP is a multi-billion five-year project that is being implemented by the ICT and National Guidance ministry.
The Programme’s operations kicked off last year with the construction of a national incubation hub, which is yet to be commissioned.
The overall goal of NIISP, according to the government, is to create a sustainable ecosystem for ICT innovations and to support ICT innovators and application developers.
The first beneficiaries of the initiative were unveiled in April of this year, where more than Shs2 billion was distributed among Ugandan innovators working on different projects.
The 12 startups that benefited from the fund, include, Xente, an online payment gateway; AIMS, which is being used by education institutions, PRISMS, a tool for diagnosing diseases in babies; and Wulira App, a hearing assessment mobile application.
Others are Dero Energy Services, M-Farmer, Sysimo Technologies, Energrow, 6th Sense, Ocular, KiCare and Munu Technologies.
According to a statement issued by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, interested applicants should be working on ICT solutions that are applicable in among other sectors health, education, agriculture, and public sector management.
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The statement says that Ugandan innovators must be working in teams for them to benefit from the Programme.
In addition to that, “the proposed ICT innovation/ application should have demonstrable market potential with a sustainability model”, according to the permanent secretary.
Applications are to be conducted online and the deadline for applying January 24, 2019.
In the first round, more than 300 projects applied and only 12 were picked.
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