By Deborah Asantewaah SARFO
The 2024 edition of the Delta Innovation Camp has set the tone in equipping youths with the essential skills needed to navigate the job market in a world replete with complex issues that require creative minds.
The programme brought together 51 tertiary students from 11 institutions, offering them an opportunity to interact through a challenge in a competitive environment, fostering public speaking, team building, problem-solving and other soft skills.
The one-day programme, organised by JA Ghana with support from Delta Airlines, seeks to create a dynamic and competitive environment, allowing participants to hone their public speaking, team-building and problem-solving abilities among other soft skills to prepare them for the demands they will face in their respective careers.
The Executive Director of JA Ghana, Abeiku Greene, articulated the objective of the third edition, saying: “Today, we want to expose the world of work to the youth by giving them a real challenge that a typical company would solve at the workplace”.
According to the General Manager of Delta Air Lines, Eloina Baddoo, supporting such initiatives serves as a platform for the company to give back to society, build meaningful relationships beyond business transactions and empower the next generation.
She articulated that her team “is passionate about volunteering their time and resources to this impactful”, adding that “through such initiatives, they shape the future of the country’s socio-economic and sustainable development”.
As part of the activities for the camp, a Design Thinking facilitator from the Academic City University, Makafui Awuku, took participants through the concepts of innovation and design thinking, utilising some real-life case studies.
After the session, participants were grouped and tasked with solving real business challenges faced by Delta Air Lines globally. The event culminated with team Innovators emerging winners, followed by Achievers and Skyward.
Mr. Greene noted that while the challenge given to participants is focused on the aviation space, the skills required to solve the problem are applicable in every industry, be it banking, engineering or in NGOs; therefore, the students can replicate irrespective of where they find themselves.
Additionally, he said the development of these right skill sets prepares the youth to be an asset to the institution and industry they choose to operate within in the future.
Concerning the future of innovation and entrepreneurship, Mr. Greene expressed optimism about the youth’s ability to devise innovative solutions to solve local and global problems provided they effectively apply the knowledge they have acquired.
“I am almost more than certain that the future is bright because looking at all the inputs they are getting from programmes like this, they are in a better position to solve the complex problems of the future if they apply the knowledge acquired. So, it is not enough to train them.”
He also indicated the readiness of JA Ghana to collaborate more with the government and the Ministry of Education to scale up and reach out to more youths across the country.
