Nairobi-based incubator m:lab East Africa is to hold a series of technical training sessions on major mobile technology platforms, designed to assist with mobile app development in Kenya.
m:lab said the training will cover Android and SMS/USSD mobile platforms and teach best practices in user experience and design, databases, versioning and source control, and entrepreneurship, among other key areas in software development.
“The course will provide the requisite industry-grade knowledge and skills for mobile app development enthusiasts, helping them advance their skills and expertise necessary in developing high quality mobile apps that exceed market standards,” m:lab said.
Android training will take place over the course of four weeks at the cost of KES15,000 (US$165), with interested parties invited to register online by March 29. SMS and USSD training will take place over two weeks at the same cost, with registration again available online.
m:lab said it is seeking individuals with prior knowledge in programming, preferably in Java and PHP, and said by the end of the training every participant should be able to develop and publish a mobile app on the platform of interest.
It has been a typically busy last few months for m:lab, which in December awarded Kenyan startups Tumakaro and SokoNect with cash investments of US$5,000 each after pitching to judges at the Mobile Impact Ventures Programme Demo Day.
Last month the incubator and partner Microsoft 4Afrika announced 57 students had graduated from their Windows training programme, with 29 awarded certificates in Windows application development. This came after m:lab and the 4Afrika initiative partnered last year to run the Windows training programme for developers wishing to advance their skills on the Windows platform, with over 100 students so far passing through the programme.
Meanwhile, Disrupt Africa reported John Kieti left his position as lead at m:lab in order to finish his doctorate.