NUST AND MTC BRINGS HTTP TO LIFE.

Windhoek, July 15 – Namibia’s premier digital enabler, MTC today in collaboration with academia
partner Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) opened the doors of the High-Tech Transfer
Plaza Select (HTTPS), a state-of-the-art multimillion-dollar innovative hub that offers innovators access to
network experts, the latest technologies (including 5G, Internet of Things, high-speed fiber), and space to
work together and exchange ideas.

The NUST-MTC smart partnership aims to push frontiers of knowledge and drive the engines for innovation
while fostering start-up initiatives that complement the country’s economic growth.

Speaking on the partnership, MTC Managing Director Dr. Licky Erastus expressed that: “MTC’s long-term
perspective through this smart partnership is to take on the challenge of providing a technological
ecosystem which will form the backbone of the Namibian digital economy and upon which the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be built.”
Dr. Erastus highlighted that the collaboration with NUST to create the HTTP is an example of how MTC seeks
to empower today’s academia, start-ups, and small businesses with the expertise and technologies to help turn their blueprints into reality and become global leaders in their fields.

“Such an investment and commitment from MTC as a private sector supports our ambition to make Namibia one of the world’s most attractive countries for digital enterprises. It will also boost the local economy and help attract new jobs and opportunities for the people of Namibia,” said Dr. Erastus.

To date, MTC has entered into smart partnership agreements with academic, government, and private institutions, as well as with non-profit and start-up incubators with the aim of nurturing talent and capability in fields like social sciences, artificial intelligence, data science, internet of things (IoT) and smart city solutions.

NUST Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Erold Naomab, highlighted that the HTTPS facility will house several innovative virtual and in-person projects.
“The NUST-MTC partnership will support 13 research projects under an existing 5-year Memorandum of Understanding between the parties. The majority of these multidisciplinary projects are in collaboration with the Faculties of Computing and Informatics; Health and Applied Sciences; and Engineering respectively. They range from emerging and disruptive technologies; ubiquitous and pervasive computing;
cybersecurity and forensics, to software development.”

Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Itah Kandjii-Murangisaid that: “HTTPS anchors
the university as a vital center of competence to assist in tackling social challenges and drive economic
growth. This is certainly a milestone achievement, not only for the NUST Community but also for the entire
education sector and the business community at large.
In her final remarks, Dr. Kandjii-Murangi said that: “the representation of women in IT fields such as business
informatics and computer science, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, is on the rise, the HTTPS
the building must also be used to create platforms for the transfer of knowledge and skills to women, and that
these will be utilized effectively. May this facility be a hub where women will be nurtured and supported in
such a way that they will be in the forefront of creating new innovations and technological patents.”

Robert Maseka
mrobert@namibiadailynews.info