Douala: Uziel wins Orange Summer Challenge 2023

International
14 Nov 2023

On October 25, Uziel Simou, a student at the Institut Ucac-Icam d’Afrique Centrale in Douala (Cameroon), in his 5th year of computer science (X2024), won the Challenge of this competition in which 15 countries from Africa and the Middle East competed for the first time.

Uziel loves a challenge, and has set himself the challenge of taking part in the Orange Summer Challenge 2023 (OSC2023), “a great adventure”, as he puts it! The aim of the competition, organized by Orange Digital Centers and its partner EY: to develop innovative solutions to current and future challenges in the environment, health, education, agriculture and many other fields. The theme of this 3rd edition was “Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things: a winning duo to tackle tomorrow’s challenges!”

For three months, teams worked on their project while benefiting from training (business, design thinking, soft skills, communication techniques…) and tailored mentoring provided by national and international experts.
“We were a team of six students who didn’t know each other. We had to manage to work together, create a group logic and get the best out of our ideas. In the end, the biggest challenge was human,” explains Uziel. In fact, I was appointed project manager, which gave me new project management skills.

A competition that transforms you

“We wanted to revolutionize local fish farming and help its development by digitizing it through artificial intelligence and the interest of objects. We developed a prototype that will help Cameroonian fish farmers with tasks such as sorting and counting fish, which are still done manually, given that a fry tank can contain up to 10,000 fish. A solution that won over the votes and won them 1st prize in the Orange Summer Challenge!

At the end of these three intense months, the teams had to pitch and defend their project at national ceremonies. “It was a baptism of fire, with a lot of pressure. This competition gives us the opportunity to learn even more, to progress and also to meet people we’d never meet before. We’ve come out of it transformed!

After this victory, Uziel and his Pixys+ team are ready for the next stage, the international phase. For the first time, an international prize will be awarded to the most innovative and impactful project from among all the national winners from the 15 participating countries: Tunisia, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Madagascar, Liberia, Botswana and Sierra Leone.
See you in early 2024!