Olufemi Benjamin Anjorin, a 21-year old Physics student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has been named among the recipients of an award celebrating open source innovation across the globe backed by the Linux Foundation.
The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, which has announced the recipients of the 2021 Linux Foundation Training (LiFT) Scholarships, says the Nigerian awardee hopes to use technology to solve problems within his community.
Olufemi, a Physics student at Unilag, who works part-time as a software engineer, “uses open source technologies daily for projects such as building an open source interactive voice response system for crowdsourcing real-time reports during natural disasters and other crises in Nigeria”, Linux Foundation says in an announcement of the recipients of this year’s scholarship.
The Nigerian tech talent made this year’s list of scholarships granted to 500 of the over 1,250 applicants who vied to be selected in one of ten categories.
“Olufemi hopes this scholarship will build his technical skills to grow as a software engineer, and help him develop innovative software and systems solutions to solve problems within his community.”
According to the Linux Foundation, LiFT aims to increase diversity in open source technology by providing access to online and in-person training and certification exams for underserved demographics at no cost to the recipient.
Since 2010, The Linux Foundation has awarded over 1,100 scholarships for millions of dollars worth of specialized, technical training to those who may not have the ability to afford this opportunity otherwise, the body says.
“Olufemi hopes this scholarship will build his technical skills to grow as a software engineer, and help him develop innovative software and systems solutions to solve problems within his community.”
LINUX FOUNDATION
“This year’s selected pool of talent represents the potential for greatness in future participation in the open source community. Ages of recipients range from 13 to 68 with the average age being 30 years old. With the recipients also coming from 107 countries on six continents, the open source novices and seasoned tech professionals selected to receive this year’s scholarships serve as a reminder that interest in open source and technology generally crosses all demographics”, according to Linux Foundation.
“We are excited to have our most diverse group of LiFT scholarship candidates ever,” Jim Zemlin, Linux Foundation Executive Director says. “When the COVID-19 pandemic struck last year, we decided to vastly increase the number of scholarships to 500 to be awarded in order to help some of those affected. With the effects of the pandemic lingering, we realized it was essential to award 500 again this year rather than return to historic levels. The level of talent and potential evident amongst this year’s winners is staggering, and we are happy to be able to contribute to their future.”
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