Think.iT - The Launch Pad for North African Tech Talent

Think.iT is enabling unemployed North African computer science graduates to unleash their potential and become leading technologists. Through an immersive bootcamp we prepare them to thrive on agile distributed teams and succeed in tomorrow’s global labor market, before we connect them remotely with leading tech companies around the world.

WHY WE DO IT:

At Think.iT we follow the vision that through technology we can bridge the gap between talent and opportunity in one of the most underserved regions of this planet. North Africa has a highly skilled labor force yet the youth unemployment rate is amongst the highest worldwide and education is actually diminishing your chances of employment. 33% of graduates are currently unemployed, more than half of them have a masters degree.

HOW WE DO IT:

With that in mind, we are on a mission to activate this greatest market of untapped brilliance and empower extraordinary minds to shape the future of technology. Think.iT follows a unique approach to developing young software engineers and connecting them with companies around the globe. Thereby, we provide a launch pad for tech graduates to unleash their potential and become leading technologists.

WHAT WE DO:

Throughout a six-month blended learning boot camp environment we prepare disadvantaged North Africans with a solid technical background for the challenges of tomorrow’s complex labor market. Once graduated from the camp, we embed our engineers as distributed team members in leading agile tech teams around the world, where they work on a temporary or project basis and thus get accustomed to the future of work. Our engineers work from our collaborative and functional “Work & Grow” hubs that are designed to spark inspiration and creativity. While working with clients, engineers receive ongoing training and mentorship to foster their technical, professional and personal growth.

Throughout their work with various innovative companies, our Think.iTeers will not only pick up international best practices but also build an entrepreneurial and human-centered mindset. This experience will empower them to start their own entrepreneurial endeavours later on, spark a digital revolution and create thousands of jobs in or outside the tech industry of their country.

North Africa has very high rates of youth unemployment, and the disturbing phenomenon of a labor market in which education retards the individual’s future and diminishes chances of employment. The labor force is highly educated, yet >33% of graduates end up unemployed. This phenomenon is mainly attributed to the mismatch between skills of the labor force and jobs available, with most of the scarce jobs created concentrated in low-skill employment. Besides the weak relationship between education and economic growth, antiquated education traditions fail to adequately prepare graduates for the challenges they will face in the global labor market of tomorrow. 

If we focus on the refinement and branding of employable skills, deploy modern blended learning approaches such as job focused MOOCs and offline skills training in the right mixture, then we can become a launchpad for talents and provide decent jobs. 
Our proposal is based on our own work experience with blended learning providers in Jordan, Turkey and Europe and is rooted in results coming from our pilot project which we set up to understand obstacles disadvantaged youth in North Africa faces when competing in the global labor market.

Think.iT enables North Africa’s underserved population of unemployed tech talent to unleash their potential and succeed in the global labor market, providing elevated incomes for them and their families. Our Work & Grow program is directly helping young engineers to acquire skills such as adaptability and empathy that are necessary to thrive on distributed engineering teams. Throughout their work with various innovative startups, they will pick up international best practices and build an entrepreneurial mindset. This experience will empower them to start their own entrepreneurial endeavours, thereby creating thousands of jobs outside the tech industry and significantly increasing Think.iT’s impact.

Track our own participant numbers and job connections made - Directly train & connect 5,000 (20,000) North African software engineers through our Work & Grow Program within the next 5 (10) years

Track sign ups and “graduates” of open learning community - Open source our training and turn it into a MOOC within 5 years, reaching an open learning community of 10,000 people within 1st year after launch, 50,000 within 10 years from now

Think.iT Alumni statistics and surveys - “Create” 5,000 North African entrepreneurs, that created 25,000 jobs within 10 years

Think.iT offers the first solution tailored to the needs of disadvantaged North African youth. We run the first online-outsourcing platform with an integrated remunerated coding bootcamp designed to train underserved populations, who have sound technical expertise, but lack knowledge in advanced technologies as well as specific soft skills for the challenges of tomorrow’s labor market. We provide an immersive experience through a blended learning approach, including online, offline and peer elements. We also developed a unique work format, giving our engineers economic security through fixed long-term contracts while simultaneously getting them used to working on a project or temporary basis.

Both our online outsourcing platform as well as the bootcamp are developed using lean startup methodologies and a human-centered approach. Furthermore, user-centered technology is of utmost importance for us in order to scale our solution. Currently, we are working closely with our first cohort of engineers to fully understand their needs and how we can leverage technology to design the best possible learning experience. In a subsequent step, we are collaborating with different stakeholders to create a seamless experience for new recruits and clients interested in working with us and to streamline our internal processes and operations.

Our first bootcamp will be running in Tunis from our current office at Cogite Coworking Space, Tunis. Interested graduates apply through an online application form and after a short first phone interview are invited to an on-site interview. Upon completion of our application process, the bootcamp will be held on- and offline in Tunis, so it is easily accessible for all participants. Not only is our solution affordable for our target group, but starting from month 2, our engineers already receive their first salary and contract. Our approach therefore guarantees affordability and accessibility of our solution.

Our approach is based on a revenue model, which will ensure financial sustainability in the medium term. Engineers sign a 2-year contract with us and are staffed on our client’s distributed engineering teams on a project or temporary basis. We charge clients for these services with a daily or monthly rate, which is projected to lead to profitability once we reach a critical mass of 100 bootcamp graduates by the end of 2018. We have obtained external funds, and are in need of more, for the starting and growth phase of our organization in order to realize the design and execution of particularly the training before reaching our critical mass.

The major risk factor in our model is a high churn rate, which would mean that engineers take advantage of our training and complete the latter only in order to work with other companies. This would result in huge upfront investments in those people without needed remuneration to secure our profitability. Another limitation would be a significantly delayed training phase of more than six months that it would take to prepare our engineers for employment at international companies. Lastly, an unexpected plummeting of demand for talented software engineers would jeopardize our efforts to place people with companies and generate revenues.

https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/11184454/

https://www.facebook.com/wearethinkit/

We believe in the power of creative and bright people when they work towards one goal. Being part of the MIT Solve community will not only increase our reach and credibility for our engineers but can also open doors to a vast array of resources that we hope can particularly pivot the global reach of our training element. Furthermore, it will lead to mutual inspiration, spark new ideas and reinforce the passion and motivation to challenge the status quo. No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. Let’s do it.

BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt

Columbia Business School - Tamer Center for Social Enterprise

Maghreb Economic Forum

Global Project Partners

Foundation Pro Evolution

Traditional Outsourcing Providers

Andela (Though slightly different model and different market)