January 2023 Magazine

THE UNDISCOVERED TALENT THAT COMPANIES HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR! JANUARY 2023

ISSUE #1

REMOTE TECH Calling on the

DIASPORA IN TECH Innov8POD Incubator Program PAGE 5

Incubator Program Success Story PAGE 6

Discover a Career Path in Tech PAGE 9

Diaspora in Tech

S E AG

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I set out to create a starting point and build a bridge for the many underserved and undiscovered talent in Africa and Asia. So I had the ‘WHAT’ but I didn’t exactly know the ‘HOW’.

The past 12 months have been eye opening, intense but also super exciting. I have met so many people with the passion to diversify the talent pipelines and for me, I found the tech domain to be of particular interest.

When I see the emerging talent that is so enthusiastic and challenging themselves to try the new way of working virtually and remotely, while also embracing the world of collaborating with geographically distributed teams around the world and working in a multilingual environment; I am made to strongly believe that the bridges have already been built.

But there is still more to do. I want to bridge the gaps of credibility and cultural fit in the tech domains so that companies no longer have to doubt the abilities of the talent that we are bringing into the limelight.

To achieve this, I am excited to establish a DIASPORA IN TECH network, to partner with us in addressing these constraints and to also champion and advocate for the talent through the teams' deliverables.

I am thrilled of the amazing things that are in the works and thank you for trusting me with this endeavor.

Alida Rwabalinda Founder, Innov8POD and Remote Tech Teams

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INSIDE: The Future Is Africa!

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EDITOR'S NOTE

PRODUCT DESIGNER: HILAIRE SHIMWAMANA Walking in the shoes of the user

05 INCUBATOR PROGRAM How It Works

06 MVP PRODUCT: INDEPENDENT STORE OWNER PLATFORM IN RWANDA Q1 Cohort Portfolio

14 WEB DEVELOPER: ELVIS MUGISHA Understanding what you are coding

16 DIASPORA IN TECH NETWORK QC the work of the remote tech teams

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FIRST REMOTE TECH TEAM IN RWANDA Success Story

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT COACHING: ALIDA RWABALINDA Lessons Learned

11 PRODUCT OWNER: JOY NKWIHOREZE Defining user problems methodically

19 JOIN THE MOVEMENT

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INCUBATOR PROGRAM

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INCUBATOR PROGRAM - HOW IT WORKS! THERE'S NO BETTER WAY TO SHOWCASE YOUR GENIUS THAN BY ACTUALLY DOING IT!

📌 The Innov8POD Incubator Program is role-based and is designed to ease your transition to tech product management. Through hands-on experience as either a product lead, product designer, QA lead, scrum master or developer, you gain credibility and confidence.

📌 This program follows multiple

one-week agile sprints where you will be challenged to learn new concepts, new tools and acquire new skillset to collaborate and articulate your ideas to drive the outcome of the final product. It goes beyond just taking courses and reading books!

📌

Following the Innov8POD Methodology, you navigate through the digital discovery, design the digital journey, articulate the digital delivery strategy & roadmap and then deliver an MVP product.

📌 At the end of the 8 weeks, the team will get to present software product on Demo Day.

the

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Q4 Cohort Portfolio: Independent Store Owner Platform Product Lead: Joselyne Byukusenge Tech Lead: Ernest Kwizera Tech Lead: Mugisha The teamElvis created during the Webincubator Developer: Leon(Q1 Ngenzi program 2022)Shyaka Product Designer: Hilaire Shimwamana Scrum Master: Joselyne Niyomutoni Data Lead: Joy Nkwihoreze Product Management Coach: Alida Rwabalinda Problem Background: 90% of independent store owners in Rwanda were unable to sell their stock of goods, even to their regular customers, due to the Covid lockdown restrictions.

Problem Statement: As an independent store owner, I want to provide an easy way for customer to order goods and get them delivered to them, so that I am able to keep my business running.

Problem Validation & Journey Mapping: Store owners mostly facilitate in-person purchasing experiences for customers.

After surveying 38 store owners in Rwanda, 90% were concerned that their stock would expire before selling it while 57% had a stock of goods already ordered but hadn't been collected due to Covid restrictions

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Q1 Cohort Portfolio: Independent Store Owner Platform Proposed Solution: How might we facilitate independent store owners to expand their customer base, so that they can sell their goods before they expire?

A potential solution is to create an online platform for independent store owners can list their goods and also coordinate with drivers to deliver the ordered goods

Product Design: Product Components: 1. Store owner dashboard 2. Goods ordering and delivery scheduling 3. Payment processing 4. GPS integration 5. Driver management & dispatching 6. Stock inventory management 7. Push notifications

Demo Day:

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REMOTE TECH TEAM - SUCCESS STORY The first remote tech team in Rwanda Team Name: The Lions Expertise: Startups, Full-stack development Timezone: GMT Location: Rwanda Language: English Current team size: 5 It’s always exciting when you see talent who were at university 12 months ago, start their professional careers and excel at it.

We started 2022 by partnering with INES University, one of the top 3 private universities in Rwanda. We interviewed 26 graduating students with varying backgrounds, ranging from computer science to land survey. 10 students were selected to participate in the inaugural cohort, which was held virtually.

This upskilling experience gave each participant the confidence that they can excel in a career in tech and they also developed a global mindset.

5 students were then hired to to form the first remote team, and they were matched with a startup in Singapore. And just like that, their professional journey began!

WINS: Each individual has been grown into the specific lead role that they have been assigned, and they are preparing to partner with a second startup in Singapore.

CHALLENGES: The team has had to adjust to working virtually and having reliable internet connection has been a key constraint. To address this, we purchase reliable internet for each individual so that they are able to work from the comfort of their home .

NEXT STEP: In 2023, we have plans to set up the second remote team in Rwanda and the first team in Thailand.

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JANUARY 2023

Believe in Yourself!

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EMERGING TALENT

EMERGING TALENT JANUARY 2023

Joy Nkwihoreze

PRODUCT OWNER

What is your background and specialization?

I have a background in statistics applied to economy, that’s what i did in undergraduate studies, and I am experienced in doing data collection, data cleaning, data analysis and data interpretation and data presentation.

What learnings did you acquire in the incubator program and how did you apply it to your current job?

Before joining the cohort program of Innov8POD, I was a student who did statistics.

I was used to carrying out the surveys by just going out with the questionnaires, filling them and just interpreting and analyzing the collected data.

I got to know where to start before reaching that phase by starting with defining complex problems within the society, generate ideas, design and provide solutions following agile methodology.

What advice will you give to people who want to pursue their career in tech?

For people who want to pursue their career in tech, I may advice them to never be afraid of engaging in it, but instead working hard ,and being flexible to face challenges and learning new things because in tech industry the knowledge and skills you have, have to keep on updating and changing as the changing in world’s modern technology More about Joy Here www.linkedin.com/in/joy-nkwihoreze

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EMERGING TALENT Hilaire Shimwamana PRODUCT DESIGNER

Can you tell us a little bit more about your specialization?

Hilaire I’m a passionate Product designer with a good computer science background, as I also have a degree in that field. Over the past years, I was once a developer, focusing on building functional and efficient code for websites and applications. I have developed useful solutions for various start-ups and established businesses, prioritizing the needs of the end users.

However, as I continued to work in the tech industry, I found that I had a strong passion for designing user interfaces and creating enjoyable user experiences.

What were you doing before joining Innov8POD incubator program?

Hilaire Before joining Innov8POD incubator program, I was a freelanceR where I worked with different companies, agencies, and startups to build digital products.

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EMERGING TALENT What learnings did you acquire in the incubator program and how did you apply it to your current job?

Hilaire The program helped me to open my mind in doing research and collaborating with team members.

The better thing I learned during the Innov8POD incubator program is to put myself in the shoes of the user as a product designer during the designing process, this helps me to understand the user needs and their experience.

What advice will you give to people who want to pursue their career in tech?

Hilaire Technology will open up a world of possibilities for you. It is up to you to collect them. Accept new challenges, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, and learn from everyone! Confidence in everything you do! Trust yourself. Never say someone else is more clever than you because you are the best!

Accept new challenges, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, and learn from everyone!

More about Hilaire Here www.linkedin.com/in/hilaire-shimwamana-913348222/ https://hilaire.netlify.app/

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EMERGING TALENT Elvis Mugisha WEB DEVELOPER

Can you tell us a little bit more about your specialization?

Elvis My name is ELVIS Mugisha and am a software developer located in Rwanda (Africa). My journey to become a software developer started when I finished my high school (2017).

After that, I learned computer science in university focusing in software engineering in INES Ruhengeri. During that time, I did some internship in some small business and I attend the Innov8 Incubator Program.

What learnings did you acquire in the incubator program and how did you apply it to your current job?

Elvis I can proudly say that I learned a lot in the program, so much things I gained there.

Most of the things I gained in the program would take me years to gain.

I can say that the agile way of working is the most thing I gained there and I wanted it.

I mainly learned that being a develop is not knowing how to code, but also understanding what you are coding, understanding the problem and finding a better solution for it.

What advice will you give to people who want to pursue their career in tech?

Elvis

It’s not an easy challenge to change a career to the Tech world, but it will be the best decision you ever make.

More about Elvis Here www.linkedin.com/in/elvis-mugisha

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AFRICA IS THE

FUTURE!

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JANUARY 2023

DIASPORA IN TECH Welcome to DIASPORA IN TECH Partner Program!

It has been a humbling experience to provide upskilling opportunity to underserved and undiscovered tech talent in Africa and Asia, and prep them for the world of working with startups and established companies to deliver impactful software products.

Each talent gets vetted through an 8-week career discovery incubator program. This is a role-based cohort where the team learn by doing, to gain practical hands-on experience, develop a global mindset and become ready to take on the challenge of pursuing a tech career.

On the other hand, companies are looking for high caliber remote tech teams that can become an extension of the internal teams to create and deliver software products.

At Innov8POD, our goal is empower the remote teams by supporting their onboarding and continuous coaching so that they can exceed the expectations set for them.

This is why I am creating the exclusive DIASPORA IN TECH network to partner with rockstars who want a challenge while also expanding your experience as delivery managers for the teams that we build and operationalize.

WHO IS THE PERFECT DIASPORA IN TECH PARTNER? Anyone who considers themselves to be in Diaspora and has worked in the role of a Product Manager, Technical Solution Engineer, or Delivery Manager; with at least 5 years of working experience and leading delivery teams.

Go to innov8pod.com and join the Diaspora in Tech network. We will then coordinate an intro call. We look forward to partnering with you!

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GO GETTER

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3 LESSONS THAT I TOOK AWAY FROM RUNNING THE INCUBATOR PROGRAM IN RWANDA:

Rwanda has a resilient talent pool with street cred and a can-do attitude. It was thrilling to watch the participants discover their genius by applying the Innov8POD methodology to solve real life problems, while collaborating virtually.

The talent is developing a global mindset and are career-ready to provide value from Day 1 for employers and businesses anywhere in the world.

It’s important to build a community of learners and support continuous development. While the 8-week program levels up the talent to have the critical skills necessary to compete for the in-demand tech jobs, we also want to continue enhancing their skills and design a career path with high earning potential.

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JANUARY 2023

PROMO: THAI TECH SKILLS LIKELY IN HIGH DEMAND THIS YEAR!

The next Incubator Program Cohort will be in Thailand. RSVP now!

Digital transformation is expected to increase demand for a variety of position this year. The need for remote tech talents with expertise as Full-stack Developer, Product Manager, Product Owner and Web Developer will grow and will be in great demand.

Adaptability to fast-changing situations will be increasingly valued by employers, and they will be looking for candidates with active learning skills, bilingual and a global mindset

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