Profile for the 16th winner of the Africa Expo 2019

Name: Emmanuel OUOBA

Nationality: Burkina Faso

Title of Innovation: EDBox (Education digitale box)

Country/Countries of implementation: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Togo

Number of years implemented: 2.6

Category Top 40

Problem being solved

Of all the digital revolutions, the e-education revolution is arguably the most strategic for Africa, as only a significant contribution of digital educational resources will support the need for education and training of hundreds of millions of young Africans. And yet this opportunity, which makes sense in a context of lack of schools and universities, seems totally ignored. That’s why ED4free, which is committed to digital solutions, has designed the digital education box to provide access to tens of thousands of educational content, accessible without the internet.

Description of innovation

EDBox is a nano server that allows students, teachers and parents of students to access tens of thousands of educational content without access to the internet. Teachers can use these digital resources in the classroom.
Accompanied by a mini projector, EDBox can be used to simulate concepts that are difficult to represent, to show or demonstrate the functioning of a mathematical, biological, physical, chemical, etc. process. The box is also a library of downloadable resources that allow students to have documentary resources from all disciplines and formats from developed countries. This gives students equal opportunity in access to knowledge.
The pedagogical uses of this device are numerous: (self) teacher training, preparation of a course, courses in front of students, provision of free educational content for download on smartphones in wifi, for teachers, parents, students. They apply to schools, adult training center, universities.
Finally, EDBox also incorporates an open-access cloud that collects and distributes educational resources that will be accessible online and via nanoservers.