Cape Town - Hundreds of delegates, creators and leaders shared ideas and upped their innovation game at the South African Innovation Summit (SAIS) this year.
The much anticipated SAIS which started on Wednesday went virtual this year due to Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing regulations.
The SAIS is the biggest innovation Summit in Africa taking place over 3 days from the 30th September to 2nd October. The prestigious event sees innovators and inventors from all over the continent showing how Africa can compete and win in the international arena.
The programme is jam-packed with a host of panel discussions, Q&As and startups will get given the chance to showcase their incredible creations. Top 20 female founders from the Fem-In-Tech Programme are also expected to showcase their start-ups.
CEO of African News Agency (ANA) Vasantha Angamuthu was one of the speakers at the opening ceremony of SAIS spoke about African innovation and the importance of telling Africa’s story.
“There is an African proverb. Until lions learn to write, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter. It is a proverb that we use at ANA. Africa gave the world art. Africa gave the world writing. Africa also gave the world language and medicine - I can go on. It is important to tell Africa’s story of innovation, technology and art. Story telling is so critical. It is time we became the lion so the story doesn’t get told by the hunter.”
Angamuthu said technology has completely changed the media landscape and digital content is on the rise. Due to this. story-telling needs to be authentic.
"What digital content and social media has done is that it has completely changed the attention span. You need to have a compelling story to keep the attention span. We as people love stories. Story telling is a very primal and key human need. Authenticity and truth is everything. If you tell a story that is authentic and true, then you will grab that minute attention span and get to the right ear. Then maybe you will be able to get that support that you need to turn that shower thought into a reality.“
IOL TECH