The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) through its centre of excellence in Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE- Futures) has won funding to host a new Centre of Competence in Digital Education (C- CoDE). This centre is under the framework of the Excellence in Africa initiative of Mohanned VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) of Morocco and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) of Switzerland.

C-CoDE is designed to support the transformation of training and educational practices through digital tools and technologies in Tanzania and the region. The funding is from EPFL and UM6P.

A total of 44 applications from 19 Countries were submitted and finally, NM-AIST’s proposal sailed through and declared as one among six universities to benefit from this programme.

Speaking to the Management of WISE-Futures, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Research and Innovation, Prof. Anthony Mshandete pointed out that, NM-AIST always seeks to close gaps that exist due to socio-economic development and challenges. The impact of COVID-19 is one of the reasons that has led to the need of strengthening digital education to improve the quality of higher education to universities in sub- Saharan Africa. For example, it is after COVID-19 that most universities started struggling with how to deliver their lectures through online platforms. We hope that C- CoDE will elevate digital education to professors and lectures thereby enabling our faculty members to catch up with the ever-changing technologies, where the use of cyberspace in teaching and learning is becoming a necessity.

On behalf of the entire Management of NM-AIST, Prof. Mshandete expressed heartfelt gratitude to EPFL and UM6P support and appreciated the leadership of WISE -Futures for its efforts to solicit capacity and capability necessary to close this educational gap in Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania and the region by enhancing the teaching and learning at NM-AIST.

C-CoDE marks the 5 th centre of excellence at NM-AIST initiated to transform teaching, learning, research and innovation. These other centres include: Centre for Research Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability in Food and Nutrition Security (CREATES-FNS), Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA), Data-Driven Innovation incubation Centre (DDI Incubation Centre) and Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE-Futures) which pioneered C-CoDE. The goal is to produce top-notch researchers that can come up with innovative products and services that meet the needs of the society and industry.