Hosted at GattoMatto Bar & Restaurant, the event presented an opportunity for stakeholders in the country’s ICT industry of Uganda to informally meet, network and share ideas on matters of mutual interest over drinks and bites. “LAN is a golden opportunity to exchange contacts, ideas of enabling technologies, form business partnerships, share management experiences, business experiences and pitch for products and services,” said Simon Kaheru, the Chairman of the ICTAU. This week’s meet up was the first of a series that will be happening every first Wednesday of the month to connect ICTs in Uganda at an informal level as a step to achieve one of the Association’s core objective – To develop a compelling Brand Proposition for Uganda’s ICT Sector. The event was a great success as it saw numerous of individuals from all over the country meet for the first time to simply interact, network and share industry experiences and make new connections with like-minded counterparts. Participants were visibly excited about the opportunity the meetup presented. “There is no price you can pay to have all these people in your industry representing both the government and private sector in the same place and have they willingly talk to you,” said Nicholas Kamanzi, a tech blogger that attended the event. Also present were representatives of government in different capacities, including the Executive Director, and several Directors of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U). The networking event offered a platform for local businesses involved in ICT as well as affiliated to ICT to meet prospective leads, clients, efficient employees, mentors or even forge business partnerships and similar competition in the industry. On social media, the meetups can be followed through the hashtag #ICTAUgLAN.
