ICT University: Spearheading Technological Advancement in Cameroon

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

In the heart of Cameroon’s bustling political capital lies a beacon of technological innovation and academic excellence – ICT University. Established with a vision to make ICT University the premier destination for research, innovation and training of scholars relevant to the context of developing economies, ICT University has emerged as a pivotal institution shaping Cameroon’s technological landscape.

Founded by Professor Victor Mbarika to train scholars from developing economies to participate as knowledge producers and not just knowledge consumers in today’s information age, ICT University has carved a niche by offering specialized programs in ICT disciplines. From computer science to cybersecurity, telecommunications to telemedicine and iconography, the university equips students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the rapidly evolving digital age.

“We pride ourselves on being an American-tailored curriculum. It means that the philosophy of operation is that of the American system, the dream. We have no restrictions on what you can become. Our doors are open to students who aspire to become what they want to be,” said Professor Alain Isoh, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics and Administration at the ICT University.

In an interview with Professor Alain Isoh, he sheds light on what ICT University is all about and gives an insight into the mega-conference that the institution is expected to run in July called the ICT for Africa Conference.

Can you shed light on the ICT University and the programs offered?

Prof Alain Isoh: The ICT University principally operates two main faculties; the faculty of ICT itself, which is the mother faculty, and the faculty of Business Management and Sustainability.

In the faculty of ICT, we have five different programs, ranging from software engineering, computer science, information technology, cyber security, and of course, the master's program will have cyber security, software engineering, and information security. These are the core ICT programs that we offer at both the bachelor's and the master's levels. In the business faculty, we have, as well, bachelor's programs and master's programs.

We currently run programs ranging from business management, banking and finance, accounting and development planning. We are launching a master's in finance and accounting this semester coming in the fall. So, these are the two different programs.

Overall, we have three levels of awards. We have the bachelor's level awards, the master's, and the PhD level awards for all our academic programs. Now, most importantly, we have the School of Applied ICT, which is innovative for us because, in Cameroon, most schools are treated towards business or ICT, but we look at the element of applied ICT, which becomes part of the transformation of technology, in education, and as well, in public health.

For students who await the results of their various examinations, what are the criteria to become part of the ICT University family?

Prof Alain Isoh: We pride ourselves on being an American-tailored curriculum. It means that the philosophy of operation is that of the American system, the dream. We have no restrictions on what you can become. Our doors are open to students who have aspirations to become what they want to be. We don't operate in a boundary-based approach where you must have this and that.

There are requirements, of course. You must be able to have passed your A-levels or the French equivalents. And now, the faculty levels, have what we call minimum entry requirements, like English language and some proficiency in the use of ICT, because in our university, you cannot avoid the use of ICT. All supply chains involving academics, have to use ICT.

So therefore, the faculty provides a benchmark, which is not a requirement of entry, but it is a part of our assessment. It will help us to know whether we should provide you with prerequisite entry courses that will help you boost your chances of performance. But entry requirements are very basic, A-levels, pass; the same with French equivalents and other commercial examinations.

In previous graduations of the institution, government officials are always spotted. What is the relationship between ICT University and the government?

Prof Alain Isoh: If there is any word more than excellent, I will use the word more than excellent. We are very, very happy and proud of the government. We are very proud and thankful to the President, Head of State, President Paul Biya. We are very thankful to the Prime Minister.

We are very thankful to the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, the Chancellor of Academic Order, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo. We are very thankful for this government because they have given us so much support. The last but one graduation, we received the former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Obasanjo.

He was right there on this campus to endorse this building and he was well-received under strict presidential protocol. We thank the government for that. Equally, we have had a lot of ministers coming here, the Minister of Post and Telecommunications, the Prime Minister himself, the Minister of Communication, the Minister of Mines and Industry, the Minister of Professional Training, and all of these people have been coming here.

They believe in the vision. They believe that what we are doing, we are helping the government to solve the problems. And for us, it's a pride that we are sharing in the vision of the Head of State and in one way, also supporting our community to emerge by 2035.

With the various programs offered, what relevance do you think they have in the economic context of Cameroon?

Prof Alain Isoh: There is something called digital transformation. It is shaping the whole way of things. We are looking at the time of emerging from the 4G to the 5G generations of technology. And if you don't have this competence of technological transformation, you have no relevance in any part of our society.

We stand at the forefront of this digital transformation. It is quite radical in our approach because we want to be aggressive in how we take this technology.And our curriculum is designed in a way that we embrace all these innovations. As I mentioned, we are called ICT University. It means that every student who passes through this school must have some key skills in ICT.

Number one, you must know how to use ICT and technology itself. Number two, all our students are required to do entrepreneurship. I am so happy and grateful to be part of this system.We have trained a lot of students who have to own their businesses. I am so proud of the achievement, nationally and internationally, because we provide them the kind of training to create jobs. We don't believe that the government can employ everybody.

We believe that our students should create jobs. For example, in our ICT programs, we have a lot of software engineers who have developed a lot of applications. Like, for example, we have the TORCAM.The TORCAM app was developed by our student, Brian. And this TORCAM was sponsored by the government when Cameroon hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON.

We have another key project, which is called the Intelliberal Project, which has won a lot of awards in Cameroon, right up to Asia, where our students were able to develop a breast cancer detection application, which is winning a lot of trophies. We also have another great project that was done by our students. It won an award in France.They were able to develop an application that could reduce air pollution caused by planes. That was a great achievement.

Our most recent award was developed by our student ambassador who was also appointed by Amazon as their ambassador in Cameroon, because he was able to develop some applications.He won a UNESCO prize for his application developed to help visually impaired students learn, so he built an AI system that they are using.

So we think that our current curriculum so far is meeting, or has met, I would say, the objective of the Ministry of Higher Education in Cameroon, which is geared not only towards academic development but towards professionalism.

In 2023, ICT University had its first master's defence in the area of inclusive education. How is that unfolding and any success story?

Prof Alain Isoh: We are inclusive, very inclusive in our academic system. As you know already, we are prime, in the use of a digital learning system in Cameroon, where you can physically have your lectures in any part of the world at your comfort in real-time. I must emphasize, that real-time means that you are in class at a time, and you can ask questions at a time with your professors interact and build connectivity.

Now, we are proud to have graduated the first blind students. I will call him Dr Coco Bertin, who happens to be the president of the Cameroon National Blind. Currently, he is doing his PhD, as I speak, and he is my student as well.  He is so hardworking and in all my lectures, he is always there.He asks questions, and you can never tell that he is disabled. All my exams, he takes all my exams.

Our learning system also can support students with disabilities, the AI. So, for example, the application that was developed by our ambassador, once you open your computer, the application tells you how to navigate on your keyboard. The application was able to read the PowerPoint slides, so you don't have the stress of reading.

You can have your lectures in audio format while sleeping and this would help to assist visually impaired students, with the stress of reading because there is an AI system that helps them in doing so. So I think that we are taking a step forward, and we are encouraging the population, the entire community of Africans, that disability is not a limitation for academic success, because Mr Coco Bertin, who was given an honorary doctorate in the United States, could only achieve this after academic success from the ICT University, and the door is still open for more to come.

How important is the training of teachers to handle persons with special needs? And is it a priority for ICT University?

Prof Alain Isoh: We can never say that we are at the top, because as a developing country, we are faced with the reality. We have got experts from the U.S., and we have got experts from the Center of the Blind, because we have a partnership with them, to help our staff. Myself, I go to training as well.

I have a student in my class who is disabled, so I'm being trained as well by this expert on how to handle them. Their exams are not the same as other people's exams, because of their technical disability, their health disability. Gradually, we are improving our services to such a community.

Can we get an insight on the upcoming conference in July called the ICT for Africa conference?

Prof Alain Isoh: I think this is the third of such mega events that ICT University is organizing under the theme Digital Transformations, Current Trends and Future Insights. This is going to be a major turnaround in the vision to promote technology. Not just technology, but the transformation of technology.

As I earlier mentioned, ICT University is always taking the limelight to innovate in the area of technology. This conference, which will be in July, will be a top one because we will be honoured to have two former heads of state. We have the former president of Nigeria, Professor Obasanjo, and of course the former president of Mauritius.

And we have a host of other top personalities that will be expected to grace the event. So basically, I think that we as a university system, are taking the step to propagate the good news that technology is changing our world. In agriculture, the way we live. For example, last semester we received the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.

We talked about smart cities. We talked about having a good traffic control system. All those things can be done here at ICT University. We talk about technology in agriculture. We have launched our drone program. We have launched our satellite program, where we can monitor temperatures in different regions and then advise farmers on how to improve productivity.

Technology is taking over the medical domain. Now we have what we call telemedicine. Like what we do in ICT University is called applied ICT in public health. In education, we have a lot of transformation and digital learning systems. So basically, this conference is more about not only shaping but bringing a new dynamism to the way we would use technology in Africa and Cameroon.

In this fast digital world, what are the current trends in Cameroon and what are the prospects?

Prof Alain Isoh: The Head of State, His Excellency President Paul Biya, has always empowered the youth to take advantage of technology. That is why through the Ministry of Higher Education, he was able to share computers with young Cameroonians, to give them that tool to work. We are moving towards what we call the five-generation technology systems; artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics.

But in our context in Africa and Cameroon, our focus is how we can harness technology to improve agriculture, which is our mainstay, crop production. How can we harness technology in energy supply? Today we have the case of renewable energy. I can tell you that we have a Department here of Renewable Energy. All our graduates, as they leave, have their own business or have a job. They can build, install and manage solar panel systems, and renewable energy systems.

So the future of Cameroon's technology is more focused on the area of innovation in agriculture, healthcare, in urban development. And all this can be achieved through the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and software engineering.

What does Cameroon need to do to reap the benefits of technological advancement and what is the role of the ICT University in this domain?

Prof Alain Isoh: As I earlier mentioned, first of all, it begins from the policy paper, through the policy instrument of the country, the Parliament. The Parliament should be able to enforce bills that will promote and encourage professional education. The government should think of the possibility of creating digital hubs. I'm so happy about it. It exists already.

There are so many digital hubs that have been created in all the ten regions of Cameroon by the government to encourage youth to go and train, to learn and have the skills, which is so good already. All these digital centres created in Cameroon are good.

The other key point that I want to talk about is that there should be a strong commitment to cooperation between the professional world and the training centres, where the youth should be able to have the possibility to experience, to have more experience and hands-on to build capacity for which they can develop and build systems.

The last point I want to make is that we cannot keep the parents and the community out of this government agenda. It's a government agenda, but we have to localize it. It means that parents should be able to encourage their children to believe in technology because it has come to stay and the government can achieve all this by itself. That is why the ICT University is part of the stakeholder to achieve the vision of the head of state that we should be well grounded in technology and enhance our development.

Any final words as we wrap up this interview?

Prof Alain Isoh: On behalf of our Board of Trustees, President Victor Mbarika and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Emmanuel Pondi, we always remain grateful to the government of President Paul Biya. We always remain grateful to the Minister of Higher Education for the opportunity given us to do what we are doing and we remain thankful to all our parents who have fit in us to send us to study here and that we believe in two principles, academics and moral excellence. When a child is well-developed morally, the child will succeed in education and the country will grow.